Dragon Summoning
by LordsFire
Summary: Louise summons a creature both capable, and willing to act independently, and in a mature manner. Moved from Familiar and Unfamiliar Summonings.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This one is a crossover with a very-little known universe, if anyone other than my beta recognizes it, I'll be shocked.

((()))

The spell-ritual completed, and with an ear-shattering explosion, the familiar of Louise Francoise de lad Blanc de la Valliere arrived, wreathed in fire and smoke.

"And _stay_ dead this time, you bastard!"

The voice was that of a young man, though the smoke obscured him. With a gesture, Professor Colbert, the teacher overseeing the summoning rites, summoned a gust of wind, rapidly clearing the smoke. As the smoke cleared, an armored man became visible, rising from a crouch, and turning to examine the world around him. At his feet, was the corpse of another armored man, the first man's sword still stuck through his chest, blood rapidly pooling on the flagstones. The standing man was helmetless, with lightly tanned skin, dark, shaggy hair, and light eyes; his armor took the form of light plate-mail, of obviously masterful craftsmanship, and designed to provide as much coverage as possible without impeding mobility in any way.

The corpse, on the other hand, was covered in heavy plate, designed to maximize protection with reasonable allowance for mobility, and not exposing a single inch of flesh. As the first man's sword had been driven through the second's heart, it apparently had not been a wise exchange to make.

"Who summoned me?" The living man demanded, jerking his sword free of the corpse's chest with a _squelch_ while he surveyed the crowd of surrounding students.

The vast majority of the students were trapped in stupefied shock, except for a buxom redhead, who looked a little green, and a slip of a girl with, of all things, _blue_ hair, who was backed by a Dragon and appeared completely unaffected by his appearance. Eventually, his eyes came to rest on Colbert, who he examined in more detail.

"You then," He said, stepping up to the professor, bloody blade held in one hand, point-down, present but not immediately threatening, "You're the only one here with the look of a warrior about you."

Colbert realized rather abruptly that he was holding his staff as a weapon, rather than a walking aid, his stance having shifted instinctively on the sight of a corpse and a bloody blade.

"Actually," Colbert said wryly, "I am simply overseeing the summoning rites. Miss Valliere," He gestured towards the small pink-haired girl, "Is the one who summoned you."

The swordsman turned and faced Louise, intense gaze examining her in more detail this time. As the sole recipient of his attention, the girl suddenly found herself quite able to shrug off her shock, and returned the man's gaze, scowling up at him. He moved closer to her, for a more detailed inspection, and she scowled even more, as she realized he was a full foot taller than her, and she had to crane her neck to meet her gaze.

"Late adolescent," He suddenly said, "Estimated age sixteen to nineteen, no combat awareness, no warrior's scars, rigid posture indicative of both internal and external discipline, aggressive temperament. You are neither a warrior nor a soldier, judging by the locale and others, you are a student of magic. Why do you summon a Knight Errant?"

A small murmur ran through the crowd of students as the man identified himself as a Knight. Most of them had enough of history to recognize the title as a precursor to the title of Chevalier, a title that could only be earned, not inherited. And the handful of people who had ever earned such a title and _not_ already been nobility, had been ferociously skilled warriors.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Louise said sharply, "I did not specifically choose to summon you as a familiar, the summoning rite simply collects the most suited creature!"

The man stepped back from her immediate personal space, and surveyed the surrounding crowd again, this time paying more attention to the creatures each child held with them. He noted that every single student present was accompanied by some sort of creature or another, most small enough to be carried, but a few, such as the Dragon, giant mole, and flame-tailed lizard, were too large to be held easily. In the case of the Dragon, it was easily large enough to carry a few people itself.

"A familiar, eh?" The Knight said, turning to face Louise again, "Sorry, but I'm in the middle of a small war, and don't have the time." He turned to Colbert before continuing, "Now, if you'd just send me back?"

"Ah," The older mage said, slightly sheepishly, "Unfortunately, there is no known reversal of the familiar summoning spell."

"Really," The Knight said, eyes narrowing as his gaze turned to a glare.

"Really," Colbert said, "You see, there's never been any need to return a familiar before, prior to your appearance, all summoned familiars have been common or magical beasts."

"Really," The Knight said again, turning to survey the students and their familiars again, specifically making eye contact with the Dragon, before turning to face Colbert again, "I'm less than amused."

For several long moments, there was silence in the summoning court, as no one was quite sure what to say, and the tension between the professor and the Knight unnerved most of the students.

"I'm sorry, Mister…?" Colbert said.

"Joshua N'bara," He said sharply, "Of the _Imminent Rebuke_. Rank, Captain, service number IR-272-867-2491. Dragon-Blooded Knight Errant of House Gorge. And you are?"

"Jean Colbert, The Flame Snake," The professor said, "Lieutenant of the Royal Griffon Knights, retired, currently Professor at the Tristain Academy of Magic."

Most of the students eyes widened; they had not known that their seemingly-harmless professor had served in the Griffon Knights, much less as an officer.

"So tell me, Professor Colbert," Joshua said, "What exactly does being a familiar entail in this culture?"

"Er," Colbert said, mentally switching gears, "Usually, a familiar is mostly a favored pet, depending on what type of creature it is. A mage can see through their familiar's eyes, hear through their ears, sometimes more senses if they develop their connection to a greater degree. Some familiars have more practical uses, such as Griffons or Manticores serving as flying mounts, or a cat keeping the mouse population down. I'm not entirely sure what the role of a human familiar would be, there are no recorded cases in history."

"And the cultural significance?" N'bara pressed.

"A familiar is the mark of a true mage, and shows their affinity," Colbert said, "Such as a frog for a water mage, a bird for a wind mage, a cat representing stealth and flexibility, for one who is well-attuned to both, etcetera."

A sharp, barking laugh escaped briefly from Joshua's throat, and he turned to face the Pinkette.

"And you summoned _me_, a Dragon-blooded warrior?" Joshua said looking at the much, _much_ smaller girl, "They do say powerful things come in small packages."

"Hah!" A blonde in the crowd of students bit out, "Louise the Zero, _powerful_? She hasn't successfully cast a single spell in her _life!_"

She opened her mouth to continue, but the harsh gaze of Joshua cut her off rather abruptly.

"Silence, child," He said, eyes blazing and tone suffering no argument, "Adults are talking, and your disruption is not welcome."

He turned back to Louise, reaching into a slot in his armor with his free hand, and withdrawing a strip of leather, with which he began to clean the blood from the naked blade still in his hand. Colbert took the opportunity to quietly send a student to fetch the headmaster.

"I am a sentient being," Joshua said to Louise, fierce eyes meeting her own, "Neither a simple beast, nor a pet, and my people are at war, a war which I must return to as swiftly as possible. I would not wish, however, to deprive you of something so culturally significant, and am willing to allow myself to be known as your familiar in the meantime, and perform a few reasonable tasks on your behalf. What is involved in being formally recognized as one's 'familiar'?"

Inspecting his sword briefly to see that it was cleansed of his foe's blood, he sheathed it, before turning back to Louise to await an answer.

Louise Francoise de la Blanc de la Valliere, youngest scion of the Valliere family, considered the man's offer very, _very_ carefully. Summon Familiar was now, officially, both the first, and only spell she had ever successfully cast. If she had to choose one spell during her entire life to cast successfully, this would have been it, as it would be incontrovertible proof for the rest of her life that she was, in fact, a mage, if a very inept one. The manner of both his arrival, and his vanquished foe, made it abundantly clear, that at the least, her summoned familiar was a formidable swordsman, and if he spoke the truth, both an officer and a Knight. There would be no shame in having such a familiar, and one could hardly expect the same degree of control over an armed warrior, that one would possess over a simple animal, right?

"A small ritual," Louise answered, "Like this:"

She raised her wand, and Joshua tensed. Sensing his wariness, she slowly, and very _carefully_, tapped him on the forehead with her wand, then began the incantation.

"Pentagon of the five elements, bless this creature, and make it my familiar."

Then she kissed him.

He gaped in shock, completely flabbergasted by the sudden turn of events.

Louise smiled, her feminine pride satisfied that if she _had_ to spend her first kiss on someone other than her fiancé, at least it had the appropriate effect on him.

Then his stance shifted from 'stunned' to 'outraged and on the edge of violence' in an instant, and he stared down at his left hand.

"You just formed a magical bond with a _Dragon-blood_," He shouted harshly, "Are you _insane?_"

"Wha?" Louise said, lurching back a step from the suddenly infuriated Knight.

This was _not_ the response to her first kiss that she desired. Then his anger fled as abruptly as it had appeared, as the Knight closed his eyes for a moment, and visibly composed himself.

"You have no idea what you've just done," He said, opening his eyes to stare down at her, no longer angry, but somehow terrifying nonetheless, "Do you?"

Louise shook her head silently.

"My people are not called 'Dragon-blooded' merely because of our prowess," He said, tension rising in his voice, "The blood of dragons runs in my veins, and by the bond you have forged, its magic will now begin to run in yours."

He stopped speaking, his teeth beginning to grind as his jaw clenched.

"I must go," He said, "Before I lose my temper, and do something I regret."

So saying, he turned and stalked off to the western gate, leaving a mass of slightly stunned, and intensely curious, students, and one teacher, behind him.

((()))

For Louise, the rest of the day was a bit of a haze. The Headmaster came out and spoke with Professor Colbert, but Louise found it increasingly difficult to pay attention to what was essentially a recounting of events she had been present for. It didn't matter much in the end, because after a few minutes, the professor remembered that the students were still there, and dismissed them from the courtyard. Louise was glad of the opportunity to seek solitude, and time to think.

Once she returned to her quarters, she quickly locked her door, then flopped down on her bed to stare at the ceiling. Judging by the way the man had referred to a magical bond, the familiar bond had successfully formed, unfortunately, aside from his own words, she had no hard evidence. The Familiar Runes had probably formed on his left hand, but it was impossible to tell through his gauntlet.

Eventually, Louise fell into sleep, worrying about her lack of proof that her familiar was, in fact, her familiar.

((()))

When Louise woke the next morning, she felt strange. Not _bad_, necessarily, but strange; like her skin was itching. It wasn't a _good_ feeling either, but she didn't feel justified in visiting the Infirmary simply for feeling odd, so she readied herself for the day, and then went to breakfast as normal.

It was a decision she would quickly come to regret.

((()))

"Look," Joshua said, glaring in turn at each of the guards in front of the school's outer gate, "I don't care if I'm the one to tell her, or you send a runner to do it. She needs to be told."

"And as I have told you," The bored guard on his left said, "The rules say no less than two guards to a gate at any time. We don't have anyone to send as a messenger."

Joshua's teeth ground. Audibly.

"She could die," Joshua said harshly, visibly restraining anger, "I think that's worth a little more than protocol."

"Even if we believed you," The second guard said, "It's above our pay grade to make decisions like that. And neither of us are stupid enough to leave the gate guarded by a single man when a foreign soldier is present."

"Two of you would slow me down for maybe a second and a half more than one," Joshua said, "How the hell are you supposed to warn against a _real_ attack if neither of you are allowed to leave?"

"Sarge'll be back from his break in half an hour or so," The first guard said.

Joshua stared at the man, disbelief and disgust written all over his face.

((()))

When Louise was asked by Chevreuse the Red Clay, her new Earth Magic instructor, to demonstrate transmutation for the class. While the entire rest of the class taking cover behind their desks and each other unnerved the teacher, the expected explosion did not appear.

Instead, there was a scream.

((()))

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaa-"

The pained scream trailed off out of hearing range, and Joshua's patience came to an end. The guards, displaying what he decided was the ultimate sign of their complete incompetence, turned to look away from him, towards the source of the scream, and a pair of blows with armored fists later, they were taking a forced look at the insides of their eyelids.

Smashing through the gate, Joshua sprinted towards the source of the screaming.

((()))

"You!" Chevreuse shouted, pointing to a random student, "Go fetch the healers, at once!"

The indicated blond boy scurried out of the classroom.

"Now," Chevreuse said as she moved to stand over the pink-haired Valliere, who had gone deathly silent, curled in a tight ball around her wand arm, "Is anyone here experienced with healing?"

"Montmorency is," Kirche the Ardent said promptly, surprising Chevreuse, both with her promptness, and that she appeared eager to aid the girl she was well-known to have a strongly adversarial relationship with.

"Miss Montmorency," Chevreuse said after a moment to regain her bearings, "Would you please come inspect Miss Valliere?"

The blond obediently moved towards the downed student, though she objected verbally.

"I'm really more learned with potions than healing magic," Montmorency said nervously, eying the painfully still pinkette on the floor.

"Well," Chevreuse said, kneeling down beside Louise to carefully roll her onto her back, "Unless there is someone else in the class with healer training, you are the nearest we have available."

Montmorency reluctantly nodded, and watched as Chevreuse gently, but firmly, pulled Louise partway out of her defensive curl, then went green at what she saw. Louise's arm had swollen, grown, and _twisted_. Her uniform blouse had torn up to the elbow, and bulging, overly-muscled flesh was revealed beneath, running at least from her elbow to the tips of her fingers. Swallowing back her nausea at what had happened to the girl's arm, Montmorency reached down, and carefully began a tactile inspection of the altered arm with both hands.

"Your bones have shifted," She said after a few moments, then looked at the girl's face.

Louise's face was taut with pain, and though fear was visible in her eyes, she did an admirable job of keeping it off the rest of her face.

"I have no idea what's caused this," Montmorency said, "Hopefully, the healers-"

"Will know nothing either," A harsh male voice cut in, and the gawking students, and single teacher, turned to see Joshua, rather intimidating in his full combat gear, striding into the room.

"Her change has begun," He said, stopping to kneel down beside the girl and inspect her arm, "Nothing can be done to stop it, only endure it."

"I think I'll be the judge of that," Another male voice said from the entrance to the classroom, and a middle-aged man in healer's robes entered, indicating for Chevreuse to move aside as he crossed the room and sat down beside Louise.

A third inspection of the girl's altered arm ensued, this one involving diagnostic magics and far more experienced hands.

"Have you been experimenting with self-transmutation, girl?" The healer asked.

Louise shook her head mutely.

"I had, however, just asked her to demonstrate a transmutation spell," Chevreuse said helpfully, "Could that be related?"

"You're Louise of the Vallieres?" The healer said gruffly, looking up at the girl's face long enough to see her nod before redirecting his gaze back to her mutated arm, "It makes sense," He continued, "I've not seen anything like this before, but it falls within the parameters of magical misfires."

"Hello?" Joshua said, sarcasm and slight confusion in his voice, "Man experienced with this effect present right here."

"I hardly think," The healer said harshly, glaring across Louise at Joshua, "That a commoner, even an experienced soldier, would know more about treating magical backfires than a trained healer."

"Is this entire nation composed of assholes?" Joshua said, shocking every person present, "No, that's not fair, I'm just pissed off. Time to act though."

Reaching down, he scooped up Louise, then stood, showing no visible strain at lifting her, and strode towards the door.

"I'm taking her to the infirmary," He said over his shoulder as he left the room, "To find a Healer whose competence outstrips his ego, instead of the other way around."

((()))

Louise was only really half-aware of the world around her through the haze of screaming pain that comprised her swollen wand-arm. Still, she was aware enough to notice when she was lifted off of the floor and carried out of the classroom, and focused on the outward world again.

"Joshua?" She said, frowning up at the man in confusion, "Where are you taking me?"

"The Infirmary," He said firmly, "As soon as I find out where it is."

Louise giggled weakly at that, and shifted a little in his grip. Neither she, nor any healer or physician in all of Tristain, understood human physiology on a deep enough level to realize that even that small amount of mirth signaled her body to release endorphins into her system, which acted as a natural blunt to the pain she was feeling. To Louise's mostly pain-hazed mind, it felt more like being held by him brought her good humor, and dulled her pain directly.

Joshua N'bara, on the other hand, came from a much more technologically advanced society, and was fairly familiar with the human body's response to various emotional stimuli, and had dealt with trying to calm down injured civilians before. Thus, he considered it entirely appropriate to encourage more good humor on the part of the distressed girl. As soon as he could figure out _how_.

Fortunately for Joshua, random chance intervened on his behalf. As he rounded a corner, he encountered the classic comedic collision; two parties approaching a corner, and arriving with appropriate timing to not see each other until it was too late to stop moving. Joshua was carrying Louise, and had substantially larger mass than the young maid he collided with, not even counting his armor. The maid had been carrying a small tray with a bottle of wine and two wooden cups on it.

The laws of physics regarding inertia and their relative masses took effect; the girl was knocked down, the wine was knocked up, Louise and Joshua were simply knocked back a single step, his sharply-honed reflexes easily balancing them out. The wine bottle, which for reasons beyond Joshua, was already open, proceeded to dump a good quarter of its contents onto Joshua's head and face, and Louise's giggles picked up again. Joshua looked down at the giggling girl, raising his eyebrows (he'd rather have raised a single one, but he'd never mastered that trick), and allowing a slight bemused smile on his face.

When he looked down to check on the fallen maid, however, his smile died an unpleasant death. The young woman, barely more than a girl to his eyes, was looking up at him, desperately trying to hide the terror that her body language practically screamed to him.

"M-my lord," She stuttered, "I'm so sorry-"

The source of her fear became immediately apparent to Joshua, and he cut her off, smiling slightly.

"There are no nobility in the land I come from," Joshua said, "I'm a Knight, not a Noble."

With a thought, he used a pressure front of air to help the maid to her feet, then gathered the spilled wine off of his face and hair, suspending it in the air, then the bottle, glasses, and tray, which he levitated to the maid, who instinctively took hold of them.

"If you could be so kind as to direct me to the infirmary," Joshua said, his voice containing a very deliberate gentleness, which was matched in his eyes and smile, "I need to get Louise here to see a healer whose ego doesn't interfere with his competence."

"Oh!" The maid said, looking over the Valliere girl with concern, and he could visibly see her switching gears from 'terrified peasant' to 'concerned older sister,' (something he had an embarrassing amount of familiarity with), and she immediately became much more self-possessed, "I will take you there at once, I know of a healer who isn't too big-headed to help us common folk here and there, I'm sure that he'll be willing to help Lady Valliere."

"Thank you," Joshua said, falling in behind the young woman as she began making her way through the castle corridors, "Miss…?"

"Siesta," She said, turning her head to smile at him over her shoulder, "And you are Sir?"

"I am Joshua N'bara," He said, smiling again, "Knight Errant of House Gorge, Captain with the Marines aboard the _Imminent Rebuke_, though I doubt those names mean anything on this world."

The next few minutes of transit passed with small talk between Siesta and Joshua, with the half-giggly, half delirious with pain Louise occasionally throwing in the odd comment.

((()))

Joshua found the new healer to be _much_ more amenable to his tastes, having learned what he could of the change to Louise's swollen arm, used some sort of spell to dull the pain, and started interrogating Joshua on her condition as though he were a visiting specialist within five minutes of their arrival to the infirmary. Unfortunately, Joshua was forced to spend the next ten minutes preventing the healer he had encountered in the classroom from interfering with Louise's treatment upon his return to the infirmary.

Having Louise in the care of someone competent while he dealt with the, in his opinion, egotistical blowhard, Joshua found it was a lot easier to not lose his temper with the man. Being so uptight about the safety of someone he had only just met the day before seemed off to Joshua, but he put off thinking about it until further down the road, and dealt with the issue, or idiot, at hand.

((()))

Louise, to her considerable distress, found herself nursing a crush on her new familiar. Now that the pain was dulled to a moderate ache, she was able to think much more clearly, and had been reviewing her memories of what had happened in the last hour, and processing it sans pain. She was a woman betrothed, but she hadn't seen her (much older) fiancé in some years, and in all of her time at Tristain Academy, no-one had acted so directly in her defense as this man. It was very, very hard for her not to be attracted to that, especially considering the manner in which he had done so.

Unlike the often-effete, and never particularly impressive boys at the academy, he had been both fierce, and gentle in turn, something that Louise found intensely endearing, considering both had been demonstrated on her behalf. That he had gone out of his way to assuage the servant's fears also said a great deal about the man; he had been under no obligation whatsoever to the girl, and in fact, could probably have gotten away with just about anything short of killing her for slopping wine onto his face. One of the lessons her father, rather than her mother, had taught her, was that you could tell more about a man by how he treats those below him in society, than how he treats his peers or those above him.

While Louise watched her new Familiar fend off the rather unpleasant familiar, she thought on these things. He was clearly not pleased with the pompous healer, but was holding himself well under control, and after the first ten minutes of arguing, it became apparent to Louise that he wasn't arguing to win the argument, but simply to keep the loathsome man from interfering with the healer who was currently working her over.

On the whole, she found that having someone to fight on her behalf made her feel safe in ways that she hadn't in a very, very long time. She fell asleep basking in the sensation, an unfamiliar, but not unwelcome experience.

((()))

That night, Headmaster Osmond visited the infirmary to check on its newest long-term patient, and speak with her familiar. Joshua N'bara, senses sharp from his last few months in a war zone, was aware of Osmond's approach before he even opened the door of the infirmary. He moved to one of the healer's aides on night watch in the infirmary, and quietly asked the young woman to identify the Headmaster as he entered.

Osmond noticed this small bit of paranoia, and decided that it added up with the description of the man Colbert had given him.

"Knight N'bara," Osmond said gravely, crossing the infirmary to stand within ready conversational range of the younger man.

"Headmaster Osmond," N'bara said courteously, "I thought I'd see you here sooner or later."

"Why don't we sit down and have a chat?" Osmond said, smiling.

"I prefer to remain standing when amongst those of both enough power to be a substantial threat, and of uncertain disposition towards myself," N'bara said, not rude, but not exactly friendly either.

Osmond raised an eyebrow at the much younger man, who managed to completely conceal his brief stab at jealousy at the man's superior eye-brow locomotion skills. Besides, Joshua was certain that by the time _he _was one hundred and however many years old, he would have it mastered as well.

"Fair enough," Osmond said, summoning a chair from across the room with a gesture and seating himself, "But I'm hardly as young as you, and these old bones do better seated."

"Fair enough indeed, old man," N'bara said, "Now what do you want with me?"

Osmond was silent for a short while, rather surprised with N'bara's directness. It took him only a brief moment of reflection to realize it was entirely appropriate behavior to someone who was freshly out of a war, as Colbert had reported N'bara was. Colbert had not simply said that N'bara _claimed_ he was a warrior fresh from the fields of war, but said directly that the man was. Now, able to size the man up himself, Osmond was inclined to agree with Colbert's assessment.

"I wish to know if you are a threat to my school or students," Osmond eventually said, "You strike me as a very capable warrior, and after what you did to the gate guards, I know you are ready to violence if you deem it appropriate."

"Louise could have died," Joshua said, restrained anger in his voice, "If those men were under my command, they would be court-martialed for dereliction of duty."

Again, Osmond was silent for some time before responding.

"It's been a long time since I've seen war," He said eventually, "But when I send my thoughts down memory lane, I do recall what it can be like. I will, for now, overlook your assault on two of the Academy guards. I must ask, however, what you intend to do while you are here."

"Two things," Joshua said, "I will be seeking a means to return to my nation, and attempting to help Louise survive the consequences of her magical bond to me. She's probably the first person in history to accidentally take the power of the Dragon-blooded, but many, _many_ have attempted to steal it before."

The Knight paused for a moment, staring Osmond in the eye, his voice becoming very grave before he continued.

"More than ninety-nine out of a hundred died in agony as their bodies warped to the point where they could no longer function, and then were destroyed as the transformation failed. Even amongst those of us naturally born as descendents of the Dragon, something like nine in ten die during adolescence if they lack the guidance. With guidance, we still lose one in ten. I can probably give her a fifty-fifty chance of pulling through, but as I'm not a parent, or even married, I wasn't specifically trained for this."

Silence passed between them again, and Osmond noted that unlike many younger men he had dealt with, N'bara did not seem uncomfortable with the lack of words.

"In the end," Osmond said, "I really have no way of knowing whether or not you are telling the truth, but no particular reason to think you are lying. If there is as serious a chance of death as you say though, I must contact Miss Valliere's family, and inform them of this. I also need to know _why_ men would attempt to steal the power in your bloodline."

"Unmatched physical ability," Joshua said after a moment, "There are records of battle-mages slaying those of my race with their magic, but only with great difficulty, and there are no recorded stories of a normal man, or woman, defeating a Dragon-blooded in physical combat. Caught off guard, some have been assassinated, but we've never lost in a straight up fight."

"And this unfortunate malady besetting Miss Valliere has something to do with these physical abilities?" Osmond asked curiously.

"If she survives the change," Joshua said, "She'll have to be careful, or she might rip someone's arm off while trying to shake their hand."

"It's just as while then," Osmond said wryly, "That ladies extend their hands to be kissed, rather than shake hands, amongst nobility anyways."

Joshua shrugged.

"Not my concern," He said, "Since she's already most of the way through puberty, the changes will finish within a couple months if she survives, sooner if she doesn't. Either way, once she's finished, I'll be leaving."

"That seems awfully callous," Osmond observed mildly.

"I've seen a lot of death in the last few months," Joshua said harshly, glaring at the Headmaster, before turning away to look at the unconscious Valliere girl, "I hope she lives, but I know there's no guarantee of it."

Osmond frowned, but nodded.

"If you are not concerned for her in particular, why stay at all?" Osmond asked.

"Because everyone deserves a shot at life," Joshua said, turning back to face Osmond, his eyes suddenly burning with purpose, "And hers has barely begun. I'm the only one in this land who can give her a decent chance of survival, and any kind of honor at all demands I do everything I can to give her that chance. I'd do the same for any man, woman or child in need, save perhaps those already under an earned death sentence."

Osmond was rather taken aback by the young man's passion, but Joshua was not finished.

"I've only been here a day," He said, intense gaze still locked on Osmond's eyes, "But I'm already beginning to suspect that your culture has a strong prejudice amongst nobles against 'commoners.' I'll warn you now, as a Knight Errant, putting down Tyrants is part of my sworn duty. From what I've seen of the students and faculty here, you've got bullies at the worst, but consider yourself warned."

If Osmond was at all taken aback by Joshua's words, he gave no outward sign of it. He simply nodded, stood, and then left the infirmary.

((()))

AN: This one you can expect to see more of. Probably next week, unless something else strikes my fancy.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Mmm. Swiss Rolls. Taaasty.

((()))

Time began to pass, for Louise, in a glacially slow manner. Time passed in two primary phases for her over the next few weeks. There was the day, which would begin with one of the healers would look her over, then one of the castle staff would be summoned to help her continue her studies. Sometimes they would fetch books, sometimes food, they always needed to write for her, as her dominant hand was now too malformed for fine manipulation. After the first week, she began requesting Siesta, the maid from Tarbes, regularly, as she was the only competently literate member of the castle staff not already involved in duties requiring their literacy.

It was also this phase that inevitably involved a visit from Kirche. Louise did not really understand why the over-endowed redhead insisted on visiting her every day. At first, she had clearly been sniffing around for signs of Louise's Familiar, no doubt intending to add him to her list of conquests, but he was never around during the day. At least, not that Louise could see. But even after it became clear that her Familiar was not going to appear, Kirche's visits continued, occasionally with her silent little friend, Tabitha in tow. All combined, these activities occupied perhaps twelve hours in a day, and privacy screens would then be erected around Louise's bed in the infirmary, warded for silence, and she would turn to sleep before the sun had even set.

Eight hours later, she would be gently awakened by her Familiar, who always somehow entered the infirmary without anyone else noticing. It was then, and only then, that he would rescind what he would stress every day as the single most important rule to her surviving whatever strange transformation his and her magic mixing together was working in her:

No Magic. For any reason, at any time, in any amount.

None.

When he visited her at night though, and could supervise her, he would direct her in specific magical exercises, in which he would emphasize control over force, and emotional calm. The calm was related to the second most important rule of her survival; no losing her temper. Joshua stressed calm in general to her, that any degree of excessive emotion could be dangerous, but anger above all. This was also why he waited until the dead of night, and early morning, to work with her, when nothing to upset her had happened yet, and it was easier to maintain emotional equilibrium while exercising her magic.

And the exercises he put her through were strange, to say the very least. Absolutely none of it involved gathering, focusing, and shaping her will into spells, as she had been learning in her customary classes, or casting the spells onto objects to be moved, changed, or destroyed. Instead, he taught her to gather her magical energies, and focus them, in as small a quantity as she could manage, _within_ her body, then moving the energy about into various different portions of her body. Every part of her body, as a matter of fact, except for her head.

When Louise asked him about that, he informed her that the brain was the most delicate organ in the body, and that any damage there could cripple her ability to function. Which would get her killed. It was one of many things he informed her of that could get her killed. If she lost control of her emotions? It would get her killed. If she used magic in a way she shouldn't? It would get her killed. If she lost control of her magic? It would get her killed.

Louise asked him how he knew it was so dangerous one morning, shortly before the sun rose, he had told her a story about his cousin, that she would never, ever, _ever_ forget.

((()))

"I was ten years old when Eliza, one of my cousins on my mother's side, turned fifteen. Do you celebrate birthday anniversaries in Tristain?

"Well, we did in the fleet, though the particular customs are probably different. Anyways, in my nation, sixteen is the age of majority, so fifteen is the last birthday one has before they are allowed a license for powered flight, to purchase alcohol for oneself, and such other liberties. It usually also takes place during a student's first year of entirely specialized education, and Eliza was training as a sensor technician, do you know what that means?

"Didn't think so; well it's a bit like a scout, but staying in one place, and using tools like telescopes to detect vehicles, people, or attacks from far off. It requires a very sharp mind and senses, and competition can be very strong amongst trainees, as they only accept the very best for such a critical role. One of the other girls in the program started a rather bitter rivalry with her, and deliberately planned, and executed, a social coup by which she seduced Eliza's romantic interest away from her, and arrived at her birthday celebration with him, holding hands, and then kissing.

"She got angry, very angry. Then her rival, and former love interest, both mocked her, and she lost control. My grandmother hurled Eliza out of an open window before she went critical, but unfortunately, she fell directly onto a nearby, smaller vessel of the fleet, a research ship, and when she died, the magical detonation crippled that ship. Over a dozen people were injured by the blast, and if my grandmother had been a few seconds slower, every friend of Eliza in attendance of her party, and all of her siblings, would probably have died. The rival was convicted of accessory to murder, and required to pay for the damages to the research ship. On top of all of that, it will be decades before she is ever placed into a position of trust again; not many tasks aboard ship are still done by hand in the fleet, and they're generally pretty crappy ones. She'll be earning money to pay off her debt with menial tasks for thirty years. The boy wasn't charged with anything, since what he did was not done out of malicious intent, but he's unlikely to work in positions of importance any time soon either.

"For all that her harassers were punished, however, it was still ultimately Eliza who lost control, which is why the girl was only charged with accessory. When one of us loses control before the change is finished, the magic in your body attempts to convert the substance of your body to whatever elements your body has affinity for, and that is _always_ messy, and if you don't regain control, _always_ fatal. Not only to you, but often those around you. The reason I'm not around during the day, is that I'm preparing a secure location away from the academy to take you to once you are in a more real danger of such a thing happening."

((()))

Between the first-hand account, and the fact that her Familiar thought her dying was not only possible, but was _actively preparing_ for it happening in a very messy and final way, lent a very real note of legitimacy to his rules about how to survive what was happening. And so, even though she found the woman infuriating, Louise tolerated Kirche's visits well enough to not lose her temper.

So, time passed, and she waited for word from her family in response to the message that had been sent describing her predicament. She was surprised when the first week passed without a response; her mother was an _extremely _prompt woman. Louise spent a day or two worrying about the lack of her mother's presence, before her thoughts were turned to another matter.

Louise's body began to feel… _different_ in the places where she was focusing her magical energies. It was like a cross between an itch and pins and needles, sometimes with a bit of a cramp or muscle burn thrown in. And she felt it _everywhere_, not just in joints or muscles that were supposed to be _able_ to cramp.

When asked about it, Joshua told her it was to be expected, and she should focus on reducing the amount of power she was focusing as much as possible, in order to slow the process. Thus Louise passed her second week, attempting to channel her willpower into the most miniscule portions of magical energy possible. It was a grueling task, but grueling was something Louise was both familiar with, and actually found comforting. Discipline in her mother's house had always been strict, and she had always pushed herself as hard as she could manage in her studies at the Academy, if for no other reason than to balance out her utter inability to accomplish anything with applied magic.

It also helped her maintain her calm during Kirche's visits, knowing that while the floozy was off wasting her time with boys, she was hard at work, building more discipline and control than the red-head would ever have. Even if Louise herself would only have it until she died.

It was shortly after Louise's second week in the infirmary, that something significant happened to interrupt her new habits of living.

((()))

Siesta entered the infirmary, and crossed to Louise's slightly sequestered portion, carrying the textbooks Louise would be studying from that day, as per usual. What was not as per usual, was her rather miserable failure at trying to hide the tears in her eyes. Louise noticed the moment the girl entered her field of vision, and immediately stood from the chair beside her bed she'd been spending most of her time in lately.

"Siesta?" She asked, "What's wrong?"

"It isn't my place to speak of it, milady," Siesta said, placing Louise's schoolbooks on the bed, then turning away, face burning with shame.

Louise eyed the girl up and down, taking in her fearful body-posture, and rumpled clothing. Louise had been aware, ever since the first time she had seen the girl while not half out of her mind with pain, that Siesta was a very attractive young woman, with assets to rival Kirche's. Siesta, however, unlike Kirche, dressed down as much as she possibly could within the uniform requirements of Tristain academy, rather than flaunting her body. It was something that Louise, altogether too aware that she was almost guaranteed to remain very small, in more than one sense, for her entire life, was quietly grateful for.

What she saw of the girl now, however, she very muchly did _not_ like, and it had nothing to do with the girl flaunting her far more developed body, because Siesta wasn't.

"You've been harassed," Louise said bluntly, and Siesta flinched at the word, "This is not acceptable. Give me his name, and I'll see he's put in his place."

Siesta began to tremble, curling in on herself as her body language reflected her rising fear, and it took a few moments for her to manage to speak, still facing away from Louise.

"P-please, milady Valliere," Siesta said, "You needn't trouble yourself on my behalf."

Louise frowned at the escalating degree of formality in Siesta's mode of dress. Siesta had come to customarily address her as 'Miss Louise,' which was as close to informal as a commoner was permitted to become with a noble, unless they were a personal retainer, and Louise found she did not like the distance the formality emplaced between them. The girl was the closest thing to a friend she'd had since coming to the academy, even if she _was_ a commoner.

"You have rendered me good service," Louise said firmly, "As a noble, honor demands that I protect and look after the interests of those in my service."

Louise frowned again, before nodding.

"I suppose this is as good a time as any to give you the opportunity to enter my service as my personal retainer," Louise said, "You've done little else in the last few weeks, and I find both that your service is exemplary, and your company is pleasant. Are you interested in being my handmaiden?"

Siesta started slightly, then turned to look at Louise, shock on her tear-stained face. She was quite well aware that there were fewer positions that offered more protection for a commoner than to be in the personal service of a noble, so long as the noble they were in service to was not the threat. And even if Siesta had not been effectively working for Louise already over the last two weeks, from the position she was in now, service to _any_ noblewoman would be better than the position she'd found herself in now with one of the noble_man_.

That the Valliere family was second in Tristain only to the Royal family in power and wealth, was simply a side benefit. So long as Louise was trustworthy, there literally was nothing else, short of service to the princess herself, that could better protect her, or her family for that matter. Which really only left one concern.

"Lady Louise," Siesta said hesitantly, "I first came to work at the Tristain Academy because it was the most well-paying job I could hope to get. I have a large family in Tarbes, and they need the money I send them every month.

"My family is quite wealthy, Siesta," Louise said, her eyes widening slightly, "I can assure you, being in my personal service will pay at _least_ as well as working for the Academy."

Siesta smiled, and began carefully wiping the tears from her face.

"I would be happy to accept, Miss Louise," Siesta said, "Thank you for your consideration. Shall we begin the day's studies?"

"Yes," Louise said succinctly, and seated herself again.

From that point, the day continued much as previous ones had, save that there was a more personal bond, a connection between the two young women that both were aware of, even if neither spoke of it. That, and Siesta smiled more, and there was something in her eyes, which caused Louise to smile more. It left Louise with a smile and a warm feeling in her chest when the studies ended for the day, something that not even Kirche's daily visit and verbal sparring match could rid her of.

That evening, she fell asleep with a smile on her face for the first time since she had last seen her elder sister, Cattleya.

((()))

The next morning, Louise's usual set of magical exercises was interrupted by an unusual question.

"You were upset yesterday morning," Joshua said, looking her in the eye from his position in the chair beside her bed, "Not long after I left, about the same time Siesta usually shows up."

Louise, still in her bed, as was customary for their training sessions, was slightly startled by his question, and took a moment to respond.

"Yes," She said, "Someone had been harassing Siesta. I…"

She trailed off as Joshua became very, very tense.

"Please continue," He said after a moment, his tone of voice so carefully calm Louise would have been able to tell he was anything but even without physical cues.

"She didn't want to speak about it," Louise said, "I could tell though. Her clothes were rumpled," Louise broke off and blushed, "Like my mother's would be sometimes when she had been alone with my father. That's beside the point though, she did not wish to speak of it, so I decided to resolve the situation by offering her employment as my personal attendant. It is simply not done for a noble to take liberties with another's personal retainers. She accepted."

Joshua was silent for a moment, one hand idly moving up to touch the shaggy hair that covered most of his forehead.

"I'll look into it," He said eventually, and not another word was said of it before he left later that morning.

((()))

Joshua was not a Knight particularly noted for his skills with stealth or subtlety, even amongst those who knew him well. This state of affairs was something he found preferable; being thought unstealthy only lent one an edge at being exactly that. He _was_ about exactly as unsubtle as his reputation suggested though, at least once he opened his mouth or entered combat.

Certain other abilities he possessed made stealth vastly easier as he followed Siesta through the castle. Without being detected by her, or as it turned out when she moved through one of the courtyards, her would-be paramour. Joshua didn't know the young nobleman's name, nor did he particularly care to, the way Siesta's body language shifted to a mixture between defensive and fearful when she caught sight of him was all the identification he needed.

"Why hello there Siesta!" The slightly pudgy blond wearing the cloak of a third-year student greeted, from one of the doors that connected the inner castle to the courtyard "How are you this fine morning?"

"Quite well, Lord Sothos," Siesta said, smiling nervously, and continuing on past Sothos towards the far side of the courtyard, "Just attending to my duties."

"Why don't you take a moment to appreciate this fine morning with me?" Sothos said, moving out of the doorway to intercept her, smiling just a little too broadly.

"I really shouldn't," Siesta said, shying away from Sothos, "I've just entered the employ of Lady Valliere, and it would not do to be late on my first day."

"Oh, I'm sure she wouldn't begrudge you a few minutes," Sothos said, gesturing with his wand to form a crude barrier of win in front of Siesta, forcing the young woman to stop.

"It really has been my impression that she values promptness," Siesta said nervously, trying to maneuver around the barrier of air, but ending up simply backing directly away from Sothos as he closed with her.

"Don't worry about it," Sothos said dismissively, some impatience showing in his tone now as he continued forward.

"She took me into her employ as her personal handmaiden," Siesta said, outright fear edging into her voice now as she continued to retreat before Sothos advance, "I really think she would not consider tardiness on my first day acceptable in such a position."

For a moment, Sothos hesitated, and doubt flashed across his face. Then he continued his advance, and Joshua prepared himself to act.

"I'm not quite sure _maiden_," He said, looking Siesta's body up and down, "Would _quite_ be an appropriate term. With a body like that," Having finally closed to within arm's reach of her, he reached out towards her with his free hand, "You _can't_ have-"

"She's clearly not interested," Joshua said abruptly, his armored left hand on Sothos arm stopping the smaller man cold, "Back off."

Sothos sneered, and it made his face into an ugly, _ugly_ thing.

"Who do you think you are?" Sothos demanded, looking Joshua up and down, noting his well-fitted armor, sword, and lack of a wand.

"Joshua N'bara," Joshua said, signaling with his right hand, out of sight, for Siesta to leave, "Knight Errant, and currently Familiar to Louise Valliere."

Sothos stepped back, Joshua releasing his arm and allowing the smaller man to retreat, and raised another wind barrier; blocking Siesta's departure, and showing more situational awareness than Joshua would have expected.

"You've no business interfering with a Nobleman," Sothos said, and Joshua could hear the capital letter in 'Nobleman,' "Now get lost, _Knight_," Sothos stressed the last word in a manner clearly intended to emphasize Joshua's inferior social rank.

The muscles in Joshua's jaw began to bulge.

"And it is the business of _no man_ to push his attentions on a woman who does not want them," He said, glaring at the smaller man.

Sothos rolled his eyes.

"She's just playing coy," Sothos said, "There's a reason only the prettiest ones get jobs here at the academy, she'll learn to love a nobleman's touch, just like the others."

Siesta was _sure_ she hadn't seen Joshua's arm move, but his hand was now on the hilt of his sword, and his entire body _screamed_ menace.

"Others, you say," Joshua said, quiet lethality lacing the tone of his voice, "What _others_?"

"Do you really think Siesta is the only pretty maid here?" Sothos sneering, his tone of voice inferring the 'special' uses that _all_ pretty maids were for.

Joshua's entire body spasmed slightly, and a mass of air slammed into the back of Sothos head, knocking him unconscious.

"Who among the staff would know who else this bastard has attacked?" Joshua asked Siesta, catching Sothos body as he fell.

Siesta just stared in shock for long seconds, before Joshua cleared his throat, jolting her out of it.

"The chief cook, Marteau," Siesta said quickly, "He's the only member of the serving staff the nobles will not interfere with, and he tries to look after the rest of us as much as he can manage."

"I will go to him, please go and inform Louise what has happened," Joshua said, and Siesta nodded mutely, setting off towards the infirmary at a run.

((()))

Joshua dumped the unconscious Sothos on the floor of the kitchen.

"This man," He said to Marteau, "I caught him pushing himself on Siesta. Has he attempted, or succeeded in rape here before?"

Two of the scullery girls started at his words, then, after turning to see Sothos lying unconscious on the kitchen floor, shivered. N'bara did not miss this.

"That's at least two," He growled, glaring down at the unconscious noble, "Were there any others?"

"Three others," Marteau, a middle-aged man of strong build and features, said grimly, "They were forced to leave the academy though, as they became pregnant."

Joshua's teeth ground audibly as her glared down at the unconscious 'noble' man.

"As I recall," He said fiercely, "There are laws for formal duels in this country."

((()))

When Martel Sothos woke up, he found himself flat on his back in the same courtyard he had lost conscious in, with one of the male members of the castle staff gently shaking him awake.

"Lord Sothos," The man said, as Sothos sat up and then attempted to stop the world from spinning around him, "I was sent to awaken you, and give this to you, by Lady Valliere's familiar."

The servant left before Sothos had managed to fully gather his wits. The item the servant had left beside him was an envelope, with a simple message within:

_Touch Siesta again and I will defend her with the sword._

_-Knight N'bara._

Sothos ground his teeth. This could _not_ be allowed to stand. No doubt the bitch had struck him from behind while the soldier had distracted him. There would be _blood_ over this, and he would not be so kind with Siesta as he had been with the others when he brought her to bed.

((()))

Sothos arrived at the entrance to infirmary at the same time Louise did, though they were coming from opposite directions, he from the outside, her from the inside. Sothos arrived alone, Louise was flanked by her handmaiden and familiar.

"You," Sothos snarled, stepping forward, finger raised menacingly towards Siesta, "You-"

"She," Louise said harshly, cutting the man off and leveling her best glare at him, which was pretty impressive considering she was something like ten inches shorter than him, "Is my personal retainer, and as such, is under the protection of House Valliere. Unless you issue an immediate apology for your unbecoming conduct, I shall have to demand satisfaction."

Sothos gaped at Louise, unable to believe what he was hearing. He was a line mage, which was not _terribly_ impressive overall, but it was certainly quite unusual amongst the student body, and that he had attained line mage status in his second year had earned him something of a reputation. The reputation of Louise Valliere, while actually far more significant amongst the student body than his own, was a reputation as being completely _incompetent_ with magic, and 'summoning' a commoner swordsman as a familiar.

And she was leading up to a formal challenge for a _duel_. Was she insane?

Still, defeating her would give him more than enough social leeway to take Siesta from he, so who was he to turn her down?

"I find that _I _am the one who has been wronged, and _I_ will demand satisfaction of _you_," Sothos replied, sneering.

Louise smiled triumphantly, something that a small part of Sothos screamed warning about, but his ego pushed it down and ignored it.

"As the Tristain Academy forbids dueling between students," Louise said, "My familiar will stand in for me instead."

Abruptly, it all came together for Sothos; Louise was displeased with her 'familiar,' and had decided to dispose of him. He probably was sleeping with the maid already, and she had simply taken it as an opportunity to get rid of him without losing too much face.

Well, Sothos would be happy to rid her of the swordsman in exchange for the 'services' of her handmaiden. He wouldn't even require her to dismiss the tart, that way she wouldn't be his responsibility if she got pregnant.

"We shall duel in the Vestri court," He declared.

((()))

Joshua was struggling mightily with himself not to enjoy the coming fight. He loved fighting, the struggle, the competition, the triumph and defeat, it breathed a fire into his veins that few other things could match. This time, however, he was going into a fight he had played a part in deliberately engineering, and he was doing so with the express intent of shedding blood.

This was not an appropriate thing to take pleasure in, even if he would allow himself some satisfaction at justice done. So instead, he mentally prepared himself for battle against a wind-mage of at least marginal competence, though no combat experience.

This was going to be almost painfully easy.

((()))

When they reached the Vestri court, they found Professor Colbert waiting for them, and every member of the castle staff that was not on duty waiting to watch.

"I'm simply here to ensure things do not get out of hand," Colbert said when Joshua directed an inquiring look his way, "I'd rather put a stop to this altogether, but the Headmaster ordered me to let you proceed."

Joshua nodded sharply, then moved out into the court a fair distance, before turning to face Sothos.

"Since you are here, Professor," Louise said, "You may as well serve as official as well as impartial observer."

Colbert nodded sharply, looking between the two duelists, and sizing them up.

"I don't suppose I can talk either of you out of this?" He asked gruffly.

Joshua shook his head. Sothos sneered.

"Very well then," Colbert said, "As neither I nor Osmond will tolerate dueling to the death on campus, this duel will be to first blood _only_. Failure to stop at first blood will result in expulsion, either for Lord Sothos, or for Lady Valliere if her familiar fails to stop."

"Understood," Joshua said.

Sothos scowled, but nodded.

"In that case," Colbert said, eyeing the distance between the two, and finding it to be acceptable, "Are you both ready?"

Joshua and Sothos both nodded.

"Then begin," Colbert said.

Twenty paces between them, Joshua drew his sword, and began striding purposefully towards Sothos.

"I am Lucien Delaga Sothos, also known as Lucien the Gust," The young nobleman declared, "And you, commoner, are about to learn the folly of crossing a noble, _especially_ one who is a line mage."

Joshua's only response was in his harsh gaze, leveled at Sothos as he continued to cross the distance between them, sword in hand. Sothos was slightly disappointed that his opponent said nothing, but simply shrugged, and, after taking a moment to gather his willpower, cast a single spell with a sharp gesture from his wand. The spell evoked an intense, tightly focused blast of air, which whistled across the court, slamming into N'bara and blasting the Knight back into the castle wall with a crash.

Siesta gasped.

Louise stared, shocked.

Colbert frowned.

"Ah," Sothos said with the air of a man greatly put upon, "It is ever the duty of a noble to teach the commoners the folly of their ways."

"Really," Joshua said, standing from where he'd fallen to the courtyard floor, then turning to face Sothos again, "Do tell."

Then he began striding across the courtyard towards Sothos again, his pace and gait identical to when the duel had started.

Sothos stared.

Louise stared.

Colbert stared.

Siesta pressed a hand to her chest, over her heart.

One of the castle servants cheered.

"Admirable courage," Sothos snarled, "But this duel was to first blood, and I have _clearly_ landed the first blow."

"First blood means _blood_, wretch," Joshua said, a hard edge of anger in his tone, "And I'm not leaking."

Sothos could think of no appropriate words of response, so instead cast another spell, this one with more force. This time, Joshua lowered his stance, leaned forward, and braced against the impact. The spell, another gust of air with moderately less focus, but vastly increased force, slammed into Joshua again, smashing him across the courtyard again. As it struck above his center of mass this time, it also knocked him down, and he skidded across the flagstones, his armor screeching as it ground against cut stone.

This time, Sothos was watching, he _knew_ he saw his opponent's face smash into the flagstones at _least_ twice. When Joshua stood and turned to face him, however, his face showed no sign of damage. The Knight simply began crossing the courtyard for the third time, his gait and speed unchanged, though there was a certain tension, a potential for violence, about him now.

"I saw your face strike the stone!" Sothos barked, for the first time since the duel began lowering himself into what could, with some imagination on Joshua's part, a great _deal_ of imagination, be considered a combat stance, "What the hell are you?"

"As I told those present when I arrived," Joshua said, his voice tight with carefully controlled excitement, "I am Joshua N'bara, Dragon-blooded Knight Errant of House Gorge. Dragon-blooded _means_ things, as Louise Valliere is discovering."

Louise subconsciously touched her bandaged left arm; the pain-blocking spell the healers cast would last for another hour or so, if past experience had held true, but painful experience had told her that Joshua was right; Dragon-blood _meant_ things. For her, _painful_ things.

Growling, Sothos focused, and began muttering an incantation under his breath; Joshua was nearly upon him by the time he cast his third spell, which was substantially different from his first two. This spell formed, in essence, a lance of air, something barely visible to the naked eye, and extremely demanding in focus and control to cast correctly. It struck Joshua just above his center of mass, slamming into one of the overlapping plates of armor that covered his chest, and knocking him off of his feet.

It also failed to penetrate his armor.

Joshua rolled back to his feet, more swiftly this time, and advanced on Sothos once more.

Sothos screamed in outrage, and began casting spells non-stop, gusts, lances, walls to hem Joshua in, any and everything he could think of to impede or injure his foe. Now, though, Joshua began to work against the young noble's blows, rather than simply take them straight to the chest. He sidestepped, ducked, braced; he did not move terribly swiftly, and was still knocked around the courtyard like a croquet ball, but he did not take the full force of any more of Sothos spells.

By now, a number of students had gathered to watch the spectacle, and every last one simply stared in shock; they had never seen a fight between a commoner and a mage before, and it was _not_ going how they expected. The castle staff were every bit as shocked as the students, never having seen before someone take as much punishment as Joshua, much less without any apparent sign of injury.

Alone amongst all the observers in the Vestri court, Colbert frowned. Joshua was not moving as swiftly as he could, in fact, he was not even close; at the least he could put more pressure on Sothos, at the most, he could have ended the duel already. The only two conclusions Colbert could come up with, were that N'bara either was so confident in his durability that he saw no reason to make haste, or that he was concealing the full extent of his abilities. Neither of these conclusions were ones Colbert liked.

Sothos was drawing very different conclusions about the battle from his point of view, ones he liked even less than Colbert liked his, though he did not know it. Sothos was running out of willpower, and fast. Worse, the commoner was steadily working his way closer and closer to him. He had no frame of reference, no past experience to draw on, _nothing_ to tell him what to do when a man carrying a sword was coming at him with fire in his eyes.

Sothos wasn't willing to admit it, even to himself, but fear was driving him into desperation.

Finally, after neatly side-stepping an air-lance, Joshua closed to within a dozen paces of Sothos for the first time. As he did so, he spoke a word in a tongue that no one in the Vestri Court was familiar with, and his blade burst into flames.

Sothos panicked, sudden terror locking his mind up and freezing his body in place.

Joshua rushed him, his combat boots pounding against the pavement as he broke into a sprint, albeit a slow one. Tossing his blade briefly into the air in front of him, Joshua caught it in a reverse grip, then just as he reached Sothos, stabbed down, directly between the nobleman's legs.

"-" Sothos screamed as the burning blade tore through the groin of his uniform, cutting and searing flesh in an arc, then slamming down into the courtyard's flagstone, biting inches deep.

The moment his follow-through was completed, Joshua stepped back, yanking his blade free from the stone and reversing his grip as he did so, raising the immolated sword high over the still-screaming Sothos.

Fight/flight instincts screamed 'threat' inside of Sothos' subconscious, and he simultaneously lashed out and hurled himself backwards, away from the threat. Driven by his panic, his blast of wind slammed into Joshua, who this time made no attempt to lessen the impact, and it sent him skipping across the ground, while Sothos fell to the ground, screaming.

Joshua, for the last time in this duel, rose to his feet, standing beside the wall that had halted his lateral motion. By the time he was on his feet, Colbert had already crossed the court to where Sothos lay, and had clubbed him unconscious. Joshua found Colbert's actions to be an ironically brutal mercy.

"You did that deliberately," Colbert barked, "Why?"

Joshua held sheathed his sword, then held up his hand, all fingers raised.

"That 'man' has _raped_ five young women, and that's just at this academy," Joshua said fiercely, "I doubt there is a _single_ member of the staff unaware of it, yet he was still being permitted to attempt a sixth. Amongst my people, three convictions of rape results in automatic emasculation for a man."

Joshua snarled before continuing, "Since your land is near-lawless, I have imposed some from my own."

Colbert stared down at the student in shock, _he_ had heard nothing of this.

"You have proof?" He said sharply, looking back to the Knight.

"Ask the head chef where the three girls he got _pregnant_ are," Joshua bit out, "That should be proof enough for you."

"You should have taken this to the headmaster," Colbert said sharply, "You did not need to resort to," He gestured towards Sothos crotch, which now featured a cauterized wound, and nothing else, "This."

"He issued the challenge, Colbert," Joshua said, glaring at the man, "I warned Osmond what would happen if I found tyrants here. If you or he didn't want this to happen, you should have been protecting the castle staff from _scum_ like him!"

N'bara was outright shouting by the end.

Colbert looked away; he had no response to _that_.

"What did you _think_ would happen in a society with such a legalized disparity of social power and rights?" Joshua shouted, storming across the courtyard towards Colbert, "That everything would be sunshine and roses, daises and daffodils? NO!"

The hilt of his sword abruptly burst into flame, and Joshua stopped moving, fists clenched, breathing harder from pent up emotion than he had from his exertions during the entire duel.

A long minute of painful silence passed in the Vestri court, students and staff watching silently as the Knight visibly struggled for control of his emotions.

"I'm sorry," Colbert eventually said quietly, though in the silent courtyard, everyone could hear him despite his low voice.

"Don't apologize to me," Joshua said harshly, "Apologize to the girls you failed to protect."

Colbert turned and faced, him, staring the younger man directly in the eyes.

"I will then," He said, "I will go and find Marteau."

And with that, he left, and the anger seemed to fade from Joshua, if only to be replaced by iron determination. Once Colbert had entered the castle, and moved out of his line of sight, Joshua turned his attention to the assembled students and staff, surveying them silently, his forceful gaze causing many to look away, rather than meet it.

"Know this," He declared loudly, sweeping his gaze back across the crowd as he did so, "What I have done here today, I will do for _any_ woman, child, or even man, be they commoner _or_ noble. Amongst my people, it is considered the duty of _every_ man, and woman, to stand up to protect those who are in need."

He began stalking up and down the courtyard, his eyes seeking out those of any who would dare meet his.

"My people have declared war when a foreign nation would not prosecute one of their citizens who murdered one of my countrymen. _One._

"I believe," He said, his voice rising with passion and conviction, "That _every_ man, woman, or child, or any other form of sentient being, was created with equal worth, regardless of birth, ability, race, or any other distinguishing factor. We are _all _the Creator's Children, and _any_ who prey upon one, will meet the firm hand of the law, be it through me, another Knight, or simply a farmer who will not tolerate injustice, and chooses to fight, even against the most impossible of odds."

He stopped moving as abruptly as he stopped speaking, surveying the crowd one last time with a baleful eye, before turning and storming off to the nearest gate out of the academy grounds.

Nobody in the courtyard said a single word until after the castle gate slammed shut behind him, and it was Kirche of the Zerbst who spoke first, clearly audible through the silence.

"Ohhh," She said dreamily, "I'm in love…"

((()))

AN: There'll probably be a couple more chapters of this at some point. All said and done, it'll probably end up about short story or novella length. I wrote the last portions of this today after two and a half hours of sleep; I'm curious as to whether or not that had any obvious effects on the story.


	3. Chapter 3

I'm twenty-five today; October 26th. Here's a little present from me to you all, since I believe it's just as good, if not better, to give than receive.

((()))

"How did you do that?" Louise asked Joshua when he woke her the next morning.

"What?" Joshua asked in return.

"Have your face scraped across half the Vestri Court and not even bleed!" Louise proclaimed, exasperated.

"Ah," Joshua said, sitting back in the chair beside her bed, "That."

"Yes," Louise said, irritation rising in her tone, "'That.'"

"It is not something I am willing to explain when prying ears may be about," Joshua said, and as Sothos was six beds down in the infirmary she was inclined to agree, "But depending on how the change progresses for you, you may eventually be capable of such things yourself."

Louise's eyes widened slightly in shock.

"Me?" She breathed weakly, gesturing towards her chest with her hands.

"Yes, you," Joshua said, leaning forward to bring his face closer to hers, "There is a _reason_ so many have risked death through the years to try and steal the power of my bloodline. No normal human warrior is capable of the physical feats performed by one with the blood of the Dragon in their veins. The corpse I arrived here with weeks ago, was only the most recent amongst more than a dozen Battle-mages I have slain."

Louise's eyes widened even more.

"Battle-mage," Joshua continued, "Is a title with very specific meanings in the region I hail from. No matter how much training, talent, or skill a mage has, they cannot claim the title Battle-mage until they have fought in a full pitched battle, and survived, slaying at least one of their foes in the process."

He leaned back in his seat again and looked away. Louise saw a sad bitterness on his face, and abruptly realized that it was the first emotion other than anger or determination she had ever seen him display.

"I am twenty-one years old," He said, his voice heavy with age in a way that Louise did not understand, "And while I've slain less than a score of Battle-mages, I've slain many score other men in all. Warfare in the lands I come from is horrifying in ways probably beyond your culture's understanding; dozens of men being slain by an enemy they will never see, machines of war that are nigh invulnerable rampaging across farms and laying them to waste, entire cities destroyed in an instant. Our war began three years ago, and millions have died."

Louise's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"M-millions?" She breathed faintly.

"Yes," Joshua said, "Millions. The lands I come from are very different than yours, One man and an array of machines can farm land that would take hundreds of men and woman to work in your society here. A factory with three overseers, and occasional teams of engineers to repair failing machinery, will process and work tons of steel in a day. And we're even more efficient at using machines to kill."

Long moments of silence passed, Louise trying to wrap her mind around what her familiar was talking about, before she spoke again.

"If you have such machines," She said, "Why do you still bother with a sword? Why didn't you use one of them against Sothos?"

"Usually, I pilot a machine multiple stories tall into battle," Joshua replied, "The warrior whose corpse I was summoned with did as well. He was a particularly skilled adversary, and by the time I bested him, we had destroyed each other's war machines, as well as deprived each other of or destroyed almost all of our backups."

Joshua paused, carefully drawing his sword, and displaying it for Louise to inspect. It was the first time she had seen the blade up close, and doing so allowed her to see chains of tiny runes engraved up and down the core of the blade.

"This sword is bound to me," He said, "Its sharpness will reflect my own martial prowess, and so long as I live, it can never be broken or damaged in any way. I can recall it to me from any place, no matter how distant, and if I die, it will shatter immediately. This weapon, no adversary can deprive me of. It also bears a few other enchantments."

"So the flames yesterday?" Louise asked hesitantly.

"Fire magic is amongst its enchantments," Joshua confirmed, "The reason I used the flames, was to prevent Sothos from bleeding to death."

"Oh," Louise said, a little relief showing in her voice and on her face, "I was not sure why you did that, and feared it may have been to make it more painful."

For a change, Joshua spent a few moments in silence before responding.

"It is difficult sometimes," He said, the fatigue in his tone telling Louise that this was something he had thought of often, "To maintain a clear head in the heat of battle. Being so close to death, having one's skill and preparation as the only thing standing between yourself and a bloody end, spurs you to a level awareness, a level of _aliveness_ that can be addicting. More, I am intensely competitive, I strive upon the struggle of one against another, to test and prove one's skill in either triumph or defeat. Beyond even that, I find great satisfaction in striking down the unjust, and bringing a halt to their crimes. For all this though, one of the greatest lessons I was ever taught, was to never, _ever_ take pleasure in killing. Satisfaction at the defeat of evil, yes, but always remember that however necessary and right it may have been, it is always, _always_ a tragedy when someone has fallen so far, and become so dangerous, that there is no other really viable way to stop them."

Joshua sighed, and looked away.

"Valuing _every_ sentient life, means _every_ sentient life, even those who need to be put down. The only time killing is appropriate, when taking that precious life away is right, is when it is the only way to protect the lives and value of _others_ threatened."

Joshua shook his head, then looked at her again.

"I'm sorry," He said, "I get like this after bloodshed, and you don't need to hear this. If you want to ask about it in more detail some time, I can share with you then, in the meantime, we should return to your training."

Louise nodded, and they spoke no more of such things that morning. Louise also did not mention how hearing his doubts, some of the honor code which restrained him, and some signs of emotion and weakness that made him more _human _to her, made her feel much safer around her familiar.

((()))

Colbert sighed as he dropped the healer's report on his desk. Sothos' genitals were well and thoroughly destroyed, the wound cauterized on both ends, and the cauterization on the part of the removed bits had ended up more like 'immolation.' It would only be possible to regenerate the boy's sexual organs with extremely high-end healing spells, requiring exorbitantly expensive reagents. His family was neither particularly poor, nor particularly wealthy, for Tristainian nobility, and it would set them back considerably to pay for the treatment.

He rather suspected that Joshua was not aware such regeneration was possible at all, and Colbert had no intention of telling him. The Knight might do something even more permanent to Sothos if he found out. As the Sothos' family only male heir, Colbert knew they would pay for his treatment, he simply hoped the boy _learned_ something from his encounter with Joshua.

Colbert certainly had.

It had been eleven years since Colbert had come to the Tristain Academy of Magic, and he had not heard word of a single rape during his time there. That Sothos reign of terror had taken place entirely without his notice over the last two years made him wonder how many more had occurred, that he had been _stupidly_ oblivious to. Colbert had come to the academy to retreat from the harsher aspects of life in the army, it appeared he had retreated too far.

He could not afford to remain so oblivious to the world around him, and he needed to regain his edge.

((()))

Sothos was expelled from the academy, and time passed. Siesta began waking early enough to bring Louise and Joshua breakfast in the infirmary during their morning training, and spent the duration of the lessons cleaning the infirmary, or just sitting nearby, listening in. The tingling sensation in Louise's body began to become more pervasive and persistent, lasting for progressively longer periods of time after she had stopped working her magic through that part of her.

When informed of this, Joshua had her begin focusing her exercises on her skin, for reasons he said he would explain later. Part of Louise wanted to demand answers, but between her crush on him, his general intensity, and the amount of time he was devoting to working with her without any request for recompense, she couldn't bring herself to be forceful.

Kirche also began to hang around the infirmary more, trying to tease hints as to her Familiar's location out of Louise, but she found a distinct pleasure in frustrating the redheads efforts with extensive obfustication. Siesta's smiles, and after Kirche left, giggles, endeared the pretty maid to Louise rather thoroughly. It was nice to see some form of appreciation for her efforts.

It was also Siesta who first noticed a rather disturbing change in Louise five days into the third week.

((()))

"I am growing _fur_," Louise said flatly, glaring at Joshua.

"Yes," Joshua said, trying, badly, to hide a smile, "Pink fur."

Louise intensified her glare, something she knew many people found intimidating with her red eyes. People who would no longer find _anything_ intimidating about her _at all_ once they caught sight of her soft, as-yet-short, pink fur.

"This is _not_ funny," Louise growled when her glare failed to elicit a response from him.

"I'm sorry," He said, managing to, mostly, overcome his smile, "I've simply never seen _pink_ fur on someone before."

He sighed, and the smile disappeared entirely.

"This does mean, however, that it is time for you to leave the academy."

Louise's scowl soured into a frown.

"So soon?" She said, "I have not even heard from my family yet."

"Unfortunately, yes," Joshua said, "This is the point at which the laws of my, and soon to be your, people kick in."

Louise looked at him quizzically. Joshua grimaced.

"I can speak no more of this here," He said, standing, "I will tell you more when we arrive at the safe-house I have set up."

Louise sighed, looking around at the infirmary. She'd never particularly enjoyed it anyways, but she had hoped to hear from her family, and simply retreat to their estates, rather than move to some unknown location.

"When do we leave?" She asked at length.

"Now," Joshua said, then slipped his arms under her, wrapping her up in her blankets, and then picking her up in a bridal carry.

"W-what!" Louise said, her face turning bright red, "At the least I must get dressed!"

"I will have Siesta gather clothes for you," Joshua said, maneuvering around her bed and heading for the infirmary's exit, "And return for them once you are at the safe-house. I'm sorry, but I am legally bound to do this with as much chance of you not being seen as possible. Please don't make this difficult."

The last words were delivered as an honest plea, with no hint of command or coercion. It was something Louise was very much not accustomed to, and found particularly confusing in her position of being maybe-abducted. This also was the first request Joshua had ever made of her that she felt might be unreasonable, and her habit of agreeing with him, combined with the fact that he had yet to prove himself in any way untrustworthy finished the argument in her mind.

"Okay," She said quietly, "But please at least let me walk myself."

"I'm sorry," Joshua said, as they left the infirmary and headed for the nearest exit from the building, "But that really wouldn't work with how we will be travelling."

"Um," Louise said, "How _will_ we be travelling?"

"I'll show you," Joshua said as they stepped outside, "Just remember, I'm quite experienced at this, and have never injured or suffocated anyone in the process."

"Suffocated?" Louise asked, staring at him in a mixture of curiosity and concern.

Her thoughts were cut off as he stepped off the courtyard flagstones, _into_ the ground, the earth opening up before them as they abruptly dropped a dozen feet, Joshua absorbing the shock of their landing with his knees. The ground closed over them, accompanied by utter darkness, the total lack of light.

Panic clawed at Louise, and her grip on Joshua tightened with hysterical strength.

"What are you doing," She said, voice tight with fear as she began to hyperventilate.

"Be calm," Joshua said, his voice soft with compassion, "I have been preparing this place for weeks now, it is well-secured."

It was more his tone, than the words themselves, but Louise found some of her fear abating, if not all.

"Now," Joshua said, and she could clearly see the serious expression on his face in her mind's eye, she had certainly seen it often enough during her training, "In order for things to proceed as best possible, I will need to reveal to you many secrets of myself, and my people, who will soon also be _your_ people, even if you maintain your place in Tristainian society. I need your vow that you will not expose these secrets, save as necessary in defense of yourself or others."

"Um," Louise said hesitantly, "I am sworn to serve the Royalty of Tristainia. I cannot go making oaths of secrecy to foreign powers."

"I'm not asking you to," Joshua said, then sighed, "I suppose I have neglected to explain this before. I am a member both of my nation, and of the Dragon-blooded. The two are distinct entities, though they overlap a great deal, as my nation contains the largest population, by far, of Dragon descendants. I have looked into Tristainian laws, and you are not required to reveal every secret of your family to the Monarch, save it becomes a matter of national security. Which admittedly, it might, but in that case, it is acceptable for you to reveal it anyways. I am asking you not to reveal the secrets of your new family, save when lives are endangered."

Louise nodded slowly, forgetting that Joshua could not see her in the dark.

"I suppose I can do that," She said, "It seems a very permissive oath, however."

Joshua shrugged, and as he was still holding Louise, she didn't need to see in order to know he had.

"It's meant to be realistic," Joshua said, and abruptly there was a tiny tongue of flame providing illumination floating in front of and slightly above him, "Our patriarch, who by merit of both being the progenitor of all of us, as well as unbelievably powerful, sets the rules, and he is a firm believer that the only purpose to martial prowess is being a Hero."

As he spoke, they began moving forward, the earth opening up before them, and then closing behind them, as they progressed through a pocket of air.

"Besides," Joshua said smiling down at her, which made Louise's heart do all kinds of strange things from such a short distance, "Most of what we can do always comes out in the end, it is simply a matter of how much of a benefit can be held from the secrets in the meanwhile. Mostly, I just wanted to be sure you would not go revealing things unnecessarily."

Louise nodded; that made perfect sense to her, and would not put any particularly onerous burden upon her, so in all she found it entirely agreeable.

"Right, so the secrets," Joshua said, "First of all, how many magical effects do you notice around you?"

"Two," Louise said promptly, "The earth-moving and the flame."

"You're missing a third," Joshua said, "One to keep us from using up all the air with the flame and our own breathing, but that one is much more subtle. What is unusual about these techniques?"

Louise paused and thought for a moment, before her eyes widened, something she realized had been happening around her Familiar a lot lately.

"You're not using a wand or staff…" She said.

"True," Joshua said, "Though I _am_ using an enchantment laid into my armor to drive the earth-moving effect. I don't have the focus or control necessary to maintain three effects at the same time, but I am maintaining two. This is the first difference from my people's magic, and that of Halkeginia."

"You don't need a focus for magic," Louise said hesitantly, "Though you can use one if you wish."

"Yes," Joshua said, nodding, "That is only the beginning though. While we can use a focus, it has to be a focus specifically prepared for the spell, to channel our energy into the correct shape, otherwise we are completely unable to use such things. In my land, this actually is a disadvantage, as it is much, _much_ harder for us to control our magic effectively than regular magi."

Louise bit back on the desire to express disappointment, there was clearly more to come.

"The second thing," Joshua said, his voice becoming rather grave, "Is your body, and how it is changing. Once you told me how far you had progressed, I deliberately told you to focus on your skin, so that the fur would come in first. Your entire body will be changing, and many, especially girls, find the changes to their flesh to be rather grotesque if seen directly. The fur coming in first will conceal the worst of that, and eventually, if you survive the process, you will be able to change back into your original, human form."

A shiver of fear ran through Louise at that declaration, and she instinctively curled in tighter to Joshua's armored chest. He gave her a reassuring squeeze, but continued speaking.

"The transformation is _not_ pleasant," He said, "I should be able to guide you away from the worst of the pain, but when it begins to affect your brain, you will spend days, possibly weeks, in a pained delirium, and instinctively lashing out with your magic will probably destroy almost everything in the area."

Louise shivered at his words.

"What am I turning into?" She asked hesitantly.

"It varies from person to person," Joshua said, looking down at her with concern writ large on his face, "The Dragons we are descended from were spirits of the elements before they were Dragons, and while some general details remain the same, you will be changing into a hybrid between the three natures, human, elemental spirit, and Dragon."

"That doesn't sound like a mixture that should be possible," Louise said quietly.

"Not really," Joshua said wryly, "As best we can tell, it is the process of the body finding equilibrium between the three that causes the transformation, and survival is achieved when the body reaches balance. As a warning, unless your magic is even more different than I think, it will be quite some time after the transformation before you will be able to use your magic again."

"How long is 'quite some time'?" Louise asked worriedly.

"For me," Joshua said, "It was two years."

Louise scowled.

"For some," Joshua continued, "It has been literally decades. The shortest known was about six months. Those who are not born into the blood usually both experience the change faster, and have to wait less time. You are seventeen, yes?"

Louise nodded.

"You will be eighteen or nineteen, most likely, before your magic returns," He said, "At most, twenty one, unless you are one of the truly unusual cases."

Louise thought about that for a few moments before responding.

"How do you deal with that?" She asked, "Spending years trapped in some twisted form of your own body, and without magic?"

"We're here," Joshua said, and Louise looked up to find that the earth had opened up into a modest-sized underground chamber.

It was laid out like a cross between a kitchen and a sitting room to Louise's eyes, with simple, but functional wooden chairs, a table, two couches, and a series of shelves stocked with food and utensils cut into the chamber's wall above a stone counter. There were four doorways leading out of the chamber, three of which had doors in them. On the whole, it was far less than Louise was accustomed to, but she held back complaint; it had, after all, been constructed for her sake in the first place, and Joshua was a soldier, not an artisan.

"And as to how people stand years with such afflictions," Joshua said as he set Louise down, then moved over to the couch and sat down, "Those with Dragon blood do not face death due to age. This is one of the more substantive reasons people seek our blood."

"That's…" Louise said, eyes widening, "You're _immortal?_"

"No," Joshua said shaking his head tiredly, and laughing slightly, "I simply will age only a few more years before my body reaches its peak, and ages no further. It is worthwhile to note, however, that while my people have existed for around three thousand years, the oldest of us are two thousand years old, and the only reason there are two, is they are married. Their progeny over the next sixteen hundred years were the only others of our kind, until the fact that our race still existed came out, and proliferation began through a variety of both healthy and unhealthy practices, starting with their youngest son, who was born some four hundred and forty or so years ago."

Louise felt that if she wasn't so used to shocking revelations at this point, she'd probably be suffering from another bout of widened eyes.

"How could a woman stand to bear children for sixteen hundred years?" Louise asked incredulously.

Joshua started slightly at her tone, then smiled.

"Our fertility rates are lower," He said shaking his head slightly as his eyes drooped, "I believe she has carried seven children, including one set of twins, though there may have been more who simply did not make it big in the history books. I, like most of the modern Dragon-blooded, am descended from the youngest. I've even met him a few times; he makes a point of meeting all those descended from him that he can."

"_Four hundred years old?"_ Louise said, "You have _met_ such a man?"

"Aye," Joshua said, then stood slowly, "I need to go rest now though. Your world is more malleable to my magic than mine is, but moving that much earth has still exhausted me."

He walked slowly to the leftmost room, and opened the door.

"The other room with a door is yours," He said, "The one without is Siesta's, for when I retrieve her. Food and water are on the shelves."

Louise had many, _many_ other questions, but it was extremely obvious that Joshua was _very_ tired, and she couldn't bring herself to argue with him. Especially considering that it was the first time he had shown a possible weakness in front of her, something that for reasons she was not entirely sure of, she did not wish to discourage.

"Um," Louise said, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Louise," Joshua said, entering his room, and closing the door behind him.

Leaving Louise alone and unsure of what to do with herself. After a few moment's thought, she decided to start with an exploration of her new living space. It didn't take long; the 'larder' was stocked with food that would last a little while, her room had simple and functional furniture, and Siesta's was larger, but bare. Louise guessed it had been intended as spare space, and Joshua had not yet had time to adapt it. To her surprise, Joshua's door, unlike hers, had a lock, and _was_ locked.

Louise frowned; why did _his_ door have a lock, but not _hers_? Considering that he had only a limited time, and she doubted he carried much gold on his person, she was willing to accept the rather… _utilitarian_ nature of her new intended residence, her ego as a noble, and especially a Valliere, was not so willing to accept having less than a commoner, even one so exceptional as her Familiar.

_Perhaps he simply has not been able to acquire one yet,_ Louise thought, and considering the lack of door for Siesta's room, and the fact that thus far, he had been the only one living down here, it made sense to her. She would accept it, for now.

Which only left her to deal with an indeterminate amount of time, after she'd just woken up, with no idea what to do with herself. The forces of Boredom began their assault on Louise Valliere.

((()))

A quiet murmur ran through the staff when Colbert entered the kitchens, but he pretended not to notice. A moment spent surveying the kitchen located Marteau, the head chef, who had already noticed him, and was crossing the room to meet him. Rather than wait for the chef to come to him, Colbert moved to meet him halfway, something most nobles would consider beneath them. Marteau was more than observant enough to know Colbert was doing so deliberately.

"Marteau," Colbert said, just loud enough to be clearly audible to anyone in the kitchen without obviously doing it on purpose, "I'm here to speak to you about what happened with Sothos last week."

The only visible reaction Marteau gave to Colbert's words was in his eyes, which was a great deal less than the rest of the kitchen staff, whose activity stopped altogether for a moment, before picking up again much more quietly.

"What do you wish to know about it, Professor?" Marteau asked respectfully, meeting Colbert's eyes unflinchingly.

"Knight N'bara pointed out to me," Colbert said his voice glut with absolute intent, "That crimes such as Sothos' have been transpiring under my nose, while I have been oblivious. This is to my shame."

Marteau said nothing in response, as a commoner, it really was not his place to either agree with, or contradict, a noble's self-criticism unless he was in their personal service or ordered to do so.

"My runic name is not very well known here at the Academy," Colbert continued after a brief pause, "This is deliberate on my My runic name is the Flame Snake, perhaps you have heard of me?"

Marteau's expression did not waver an inch, but the man paled noticeably.

"The Flame Snake was one of the Heavy Wind's battle-companions," Marteau said, his voice scrupulously devoid of inflection.

"Indeed I was," Colbert said nodding, "I came to the academy out of a desire to leave the atrocities of war behind."

Colbert allowed anger to show on his face and in his voice before he continued.

"Now I find that such atrocities have accompanied me here. I have enjoyed the reputation 'Professor Colbert' has as a friendly, approachable sort, but now I find it is time for the Flame Snake to return again. I wish for you to let it be known throughout the castle staff that if any of the other nobles in the Academy, faculty, student, or visitors, rape, harass, or in any other way assault _any_ of the commoners on staff, it is the Flame Snake who will come calling to make them answer for their actions."

Colbert paused for a moment to sweep his gaze around the kitchen, the various men and women no longer even pretending to work as they listened in, before turning his focus back to Marteau.

"Am I understood, Head Chef Marteau?"

A fierce grin formed on Marteau's face.

"You are _quite_ understood, Flame Snake," Marteau said.

((()))

When Louise awoke from her eventual impromptu nap, she heard Siesta singing softly, happily in the main part of the underground residence, as well as a sizzling sound. Also, due to the length of time since her arm had last had a spell cast on it, it was beginning to ache again. Deciding to ignore the pain as best she could, she groggily crawled out of bed, and staggered out to the common area.

There she found Siesta cooking over a glowing section of counter-top, while Joshua sat on the counter-top beside her, occasionally exchanging a few words with the happy girl. Louise spent a few minutes taking the pair in, before approaching.

"Good afternoon, Louise," Joshua said as she approached, "Did you sleep well?"

Louise nodded slightly, then blinked in confusion.

"How would you know if it's afternoon, down here?"

"I have a watch," Joshua said, took in Louise's confused expression, then raised his left arm and indicated for her to look at the back of his wrist, "A portable clock, effectively."

There, on his wrist, a small set of numbers appeared, indicating the time was somewhere after four o'clock.

"What is this?" Louise asked, "How on earth can you fit a clock into part of your glove? How does it display such numbers?"

"My civilization possesses technology far in advance of yours," Joshua said, as Siesta turned from her cooking to look at the numbers as well, "The actual time-keeping mechanism is smaller than the human eye can see, this is simply a display. It can also display other things."

The numbers changed, then after a couple seconds, changed again, then again, though none of the numbers meant much of anything to Louise, save that the last was nearly zero.

"Those were measures of the temperature, air pressure, and how toxic the atmosphere is to a human," Joshua said, "There's more, but it's not particularly important just now. The full data display is supposed to be worked into my helmet, but that did not cross the worlds with me."

Louise frowned, trying to wrap her mind around what Joshua was saying, then gave it up as a bad job.

"My arm is starting to ache again," She said, then trailed off as she wasn't entirely sure where she was going with that thought.

Joshua grimaced, then hopped off the counter, and reached around behind his back. Louise heard a couple of clicking sounds from behind him, then he brought his hand back around, and tossed her a small green tube.

"There are six pills in there," He said, his tone very serious, "Each will last for six hours. They're combat medication, designed to allow a soldier to fight through any amount of pain. I've only got the six, so choose when to use them wisely. The pain will grow worse with time, but as the change progresses, your biology will begin to change to the point where painkillers won't be effective anymore."

Louise scowled at that, glaring fiercely down at the small green tube. Nobody said anything for a few minute, Joshua leaning back to place his hand on the counter again, and Louise going to sit down on the nearby couch.

For those few minutes, all was quiet, save the sounds of Siesta's cooking.

"Finished!" Siesta said cheerfully, breaking the silence, and then proceeded to serve the three of them.

The meal was simple, bread from the academy kitchens, served with seasoned and fried venison, and a variety of vegetables that Louise were fairly certain had been picked from the forest. To compare it to the fare the Academy kitchens customarily served would be an insult to the Academy chefs, but it was still tasty, so Louise chose not to complain.

Or perhaps she chose not to complain because of how Siesta was smiling at her. And Joshua. The maid's smile had seemed permanently affixed since Joshua's fight with Sothos, and when Louise thought about it, she could certainly see why. Joshua had a certain rough handsomeness to him, and though the crush she had experienced when she first met him had faded into a more familial affection, she was still certainly quite aware he was an attractive man.

Louise was pretty sure that after Joshua had, _literally_, been Siesta's knight in shining armor, the young woman was probably floating in a romantic dreamland. Rather abruptly, Louise realized she was smiling about it herself; she wished the pretty maid luck with her Familiar, it would probably do them both some good, and would be quite convenient considering they were both, in effect, her employees.

A frown formed on Louises's face, as she realized that while a Familiar was supposed to be obedient to their master, hers had mostly been ordering _her_ around. Louise's frown turned to a scowl. That wasn't quite accurate; coming here, underground, was the only time her Familiar had outright _told_ her what she would do. He had given instructions in his role as a teacher, but he had honestly been less forceful about them than most of the Academy instructors, save Colbert. Of course, Colbert never _needed_ to be particularly forceful, but that was an entirely different matter.

Or was it?

Louise's scowl turned back into a frown as she considered the two men. They both had a strong self-assurance about them, a certainty that pervaded their presence, though Joshua's as a whole was much more forceful. Both, though, had far more presence than any of the other men she had encountered at the Academy, certainly more than the male students, like that fop Guiche, or _Malicorne_.

Yuck.

Her frown relaxing slightly into an expression of simple concentration, Louise began taking stock of all of her classmates, and finding to her disgust, that the most impressive of the students was _Kirche_, of all people. Or perhaps Tabitha, for all that she was terribly quiet, she _had_ summoned a Dragon, something that _any_ other student would have lorded over their peers.

"What are you thinking of, mistress?" Siesta said, her curious voice interrupting Louise's thoughtful reverie.

"Tabitha," Louise said, blinking, and looking at Siesta, who was seated on a simple wooden chair across from her, "She summoned a Dragon, something I would have looked into, and probably would have drawn more attention from others as well, if Joshua hadn't appeared with a corpse."

"She's very sharp," Joshua put in, from where he was sitting beside her on the couch, "I've tried several times to approach her Dragon, Slyphid, without the girl interfering, but she always manages to suddenly turn up."

"Why would you want to be with her familiar when she isn't around?" Siesta asked curiously.

"Dragons where I come from are sentient," Joshua explained, his face becoming fierce, "If her species is like those I am familiar with, she is little more than a child, and I want to be certain she is not being treated poorly."

His voice had sharpened nearly painfully by the time he finished speaking, and a few moments of chilled silence passed before Louise broke it.

"I hate to say it," She said, disgust pervading her tone, "But you may need to speak to _Kirche_ about Tabitha, she's the only one Tabitha seems to be friends with."

"The immodest over-endowed redhead?" Joshua asked, his tone revealing some distaste.

Louise was secretly thrilled at his apparent disapproval of her rival.

"Yes," She said flatly, and Joshua grimaced.

"I suppose there's no helping it," He said, "Defense of the young is more important than avoiding unpleasant people."

Louise nodded sympathetically, while Siesta demurely raised a hand to cover her smile.

((()))

During the day, Joshua had to emerge from the earth outside the Academy walls, as there was simply too much activity on the grounds to emerge without detection. Once on the surface, gaining entry to the academy was simple; the guards welcomed him with a respectful nod, and he set about looking for Kirche, who he eventually found leaving the Alvis dining hall with some of her classmates.

Who, apparently had also been looking for him.

"Dearest!" She said brightly, opening her arms and rushing towards him.

Caught completely off-guard by the busty girl's spontaneous affection, he froze for a moment, her completely non-threatening body-language failing to trigger his defensive reflexes, enabling the red-head to latch onto him in an enthusiastic embrace. When she moved to kiss him, however, he instinctively jerked away, memories of Louise's unexpected kiss after his summoning spurring him to action.

"I've been looking for you for days!" Kirche said brightly, giving no outward signs of being put off by his evasion of her kiss, undulating against his body, "Wherever have you been hiding?"

It had not yet occurred to Kirche that his full suit of armor was protecting him from the tactile assault of her deliberately sensual embrace, significantly blunting the force of her seductive efforts, and leaving Joshua much more mentally gathered than most of her targets for conquest.

Joshua shook himself, cleared his throat, then carefully took hold of her hands, and removed them from his person, stepping back out of his embrace.

"Miss Zerbst," He said, "I wish to speak with you, alone."

An appreciative murmur ran through the crowd at his words, and Kirche's smile, having dimmed slightly as he backed out of her embrace, intensified threefold.

"Of course darling!" Kirche proclaimed, deftly slipping her right arm into his, gesturing grandly with her left, as she smiled brilliantly up at him, "Lead on to an appropriate place of private rendezvous!"

Joshua did not like the implied greater meaning to her words, but silently escorted her away from the other students, towards a stand of trees within the grounds, deciding it would be more efficient to speak once they were alone.

"Miss Zerbst," Joshua said once they were behind the cover of the trees, disengaging from the red-headed Germanian and turning to face her, "It has been pointed out to me that you are the most likely source of reliable information on Tabitha."

Kirche's suggestive smile morphed into an expression of confusion.

"Tabitha?" She said in confusion, "Why do you want to know about _Tabitha_?"

"She summoned a Dragon," Joshua said, "In my world, Dragons are uniformly sentient, and if that Dragon's physiology is like any I have met before, she's naught but a child. Every time I have attempted to speak with her alone, Tabitha has made certain she is present, so now, rather than speak with the Dragon, I must attempt to discern Tabitha's character indirectly."

"You could just speak with her, you know," Kirche said, confusion beginning to give way to irritation.

"That," Joshua said, "Was the first thing I tried. She wouldn't speak to me."

"Oh," Kirche said, and seemed suddenly to deflate, growing morose as she stared at the ground, "I sometimes forget that she only really speaks to me, and even then, two dozen words in a half hour of conversation is normal. Somebody did something terrible to that girl, but I've no idea what, and she won't tell me."

Joshua leaned back, closing his eyes. His expression was grim as he took a deep breath, and thought for a long moment, before opening his eyes, and leaning forward to address Kirche again.

"How did you get her to speak with you?" He asked, intense gaze locked on her eyes.

Kirche blushed as she met his gaze, and immediately felt the attraction to him flame anew. His gaze was fierce, his face taut, a man of barely restrained passion and intensity forcing himself to patience with her as he worked towards what he wanted. Kirche knew, that many women would have been disappointed and offended by his focus on Tabitha while he spoke with her. To Kirche though, seeing his drive, his focus, up close, just made her desire him all the more.

"I fought with her," Kirche said, slightly breathless, "I did not approve of her habits, and pushed her to the point where she finally reacted, and we fought, mage to mage."

Kirche paused for a moment, shaking her head before continuing.

"For a brief while, I gained some respect for Tristainian women, but after we had fought each other to exhaustion, and she briefly spoke with me in complete sentences, I found out she's Gallian."

Kirche snorted, then spoke again.

"I doubt that'll work for you," She said, "Tabitha's a triangle-class wind and water mage, but unlike Sothos, she has Slyphid, the Dragon, and she'd just fly away out of reach, and read in the sky."

Joshua frowned, then turned away. It was a nearly a minute before he spoke again, and when he did, he surprised Kirche with an abrupt subject change.

"Why do you call me 'darling'?" He asked.

"Because I'm in love with you!" Kirche declared, her smile returning full force as she stepped around in front of him, reaching forward to lay her hands around his neck.

"In 'love' with me?" Joshua said harshly, catching her hands in his larger, armored ones, "How could you possibly love me, when this is the first time we've even _spoken_ to each other!"

Kirche felt a shiver go down her spine as he glared at her again, those intense eyes blazing down at hers, his strong hands holding hers in a firm, but not painful grip.

"Everything you do speaks of who you are," She said, stepping closer to him, even though his grip on her hands did not budge, "You are a man of great passion," Her voice was becoming passionate and intent as she spoke, "You are powerful, and fight for what you believe in, high ideals which few inside of Germania, and even fewer outside, with power like yours would profess. You are like a blazing bonfire, and I value that in a man."

Joshua stared at her, a slight hint of confusion furrowing his brow; he had not expected such a response, and could not readily think of a way to deny her words. That still didn't mean he found her attractive. After a few moments of deliberation, he released her hands, and stepped away from her again.

"Thank you for the information on Tabitha," He said gruffly, "I will be speaking with her again, whether _she_ speaks with _me_ or not. As for yourself, I don't find you even remotely attractive. If you want me to, you should show some more respect for yourself."

Kirche started violently at his flat rejection, and was still staring at him in shock when he walked out of the secluded copse of trees, onto the academy grounds proper.

"Show more respect for myself?" She asked, confusion and pain in her voice, "What on earth does he mean?"

((()))

Tabitha was not a girl prone to panic, or even fear, really. By the time she was eight years old, after more killing and death than most saw in a life time, she lacked the aversion to death and physical pain that most humans possessed. There were still things that could frighten her, but she doubted any at the Tristain Academy were aware of such things' existence, much less capable of using them against her.

Seeing Joshua N'bara, Louise's familiar, and Kirche's latest crush, emerge from the earth beside her familiar and lay his hand on its neck made her realize she had been wrong. Tabitha dropped her book, and began reaching for her staff, but N'bara laid his other hand on the hilt of his sword, and Tabitha stopped.

He did not speak, but simply stared at her, and for the first time in many months, Tabitha felt fear. Irukuku, whom she had named Slyphid as part of the young Rhyme Dragon's disguise, was her responsibility, and she had been caught off guard. It was dusk, and the pair had been resting by a small lake near the academy, Irukuku sunning herself happily on the lakeshore, Tabitha reclining against a tree and reading. Unfortunately, Irukuku had fallen asleep, and Tabitha had, apparently, not been adequately wary of attack from below.

How N'bara had found her, she did not know, though considering she had also not known he was an earth mage, she suspected there was a great deal more to the man than he let on.

And he still was not speaking.

Tabitha had developed a deeply-ingrained desire to _not_ speak since early childhood, but it was apparent to even her now that she would need to do so.

"What do you want?" She asked quietly.

"If she is like the Dragons of my world," Joshua responded promptly, his own voice low as he did not desire to wake the Dragon beside him, "This Dragon is very, very young, and sentient. I am all too aware of what the familiar bond attempts to do to a person."

He took his hand off of Irukuku's shoulder, and stepped towards Tabitha, who found herself the subject of the most intense glare she had ever experienced in her life.

"I am here to ensure that you are not mistreating her," He said.

Tabitha found that Joshua had evoked another rare emotion in her, one she had not felt in _years._

Anger.

Her expression tightened, just a hair, but for her, that was practically screaming, and Joshua was perceptive enough to notice. He said nothing though, again waiting for her to speak.

It took some time, but she spoke again.

"Irukuku," She said, speaking more loudly than she had in quite some time, and the Dragon started awake.

"Kyuu-ee," Irukuku said, yawning then shaking, before rolling to her feet, "What is it big sister?"

Then Irukuku spotted Joshua.

"Uh-oh!" She squeaked, a truly strange sound coming from something the size of a small room, and dashed around behind Tabitha, trying to hide behind the tiny girl, "I'm sorry big sister, I didn't know anybody else was here!"

Neither Joshua nor Tabitha said anything, silence passing as she stared at him, and he looked back and forth between Tabitha and Irukuku, particularly Tabitha's defensive posture and Irukuku's clearly deferential, but not fearful body language. When Irukuku began to make confused noises, Joshua chose to speak.

"I think that answers my question," He said, nodding at Tabitha, "I'm sorry if you felt insulted, but I had to know. If you will keep my secret, I will keep yours."

And then he fell into the ground, it rippling and then closing up over him as though it were water, leaving a confused young Dragon, and Tabitha with a number of new thoughts.

((()))

It was late when Joshua returned to the underground safehouse, and when he did he found Siesta humming quietly in an armchair as she knitted, while Louise had apparently passed out on the couch. The Knight gave Siesta a meaningful look, gesturing to Louise.

"She fell asleep about half an hour ago," The maid whispered, smiling up at N'bara, "When she sleeps, she reminds me of my younger sisters. So cute!"

Joshua closed his eyes, and for a moment, a shadow of pain passed across his face. It was gone as quickly as it came, and Joshua strode quietly across to where Louise slept, inspecting her carefully. Her fur was growing in more noticeably now, and rather than simply adding a faint pinkish tinge, it was starting to make her noticeably fuzzy. Moving carefully, Joshua slipped his arms under her, and picked the tiny girl up, carrying her into her room to put her to bed.

When he returned, Siesta was still where she had been before, and Joshua sized her up for a moment, considering.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" He asked quietly.

"For what?" Siesta asked, looking up at him curiously.

"Staying down here with Louise and I," Joshua said, "Her transformation won't be pleasant, pretty, or safe. She could accidentally kill you when her magic rages out of control."

"It's okay," Siesta said smiling softly up at him, her eyes full of trust, "I trust you to protect me."

Joshua started slightly at the complete lack of doubt in her statement, and it took him a moment to find a response.

"You probably shouldn't," He said gruffly, "I don't have the best track record."

"But you're so strong!" Siesta said, surprised by his self-deprecation, "Strong enough to defeat Nobles without even using magic!"

Joshua's jaw clenched, and he violently turned away from her, his entire body becoming tense.

"Not strong enough to protect my sisters," He said harshly, then strode quickly to his room, and shut the door behind him.

"Oh, poop," Siesta said, deeply regretting bringing up a painful memory on his part, even if it was accidental.

Setting aside her knitting, she quickly crossed the common room to his door, but found that it was locked, ruining her chances at attempting to go comfort him.

"Now what?" She asked nobody in particular, surveying the room around her with a dejected air.

((()))

Time passed at the Academy; Joshua expanded his stamina carrying Siesta to and from the surface every other day to collect supplies and perform tasks that could not be completed in their safehouse, Colbert spent less time on his mechanical studies, and more time working to regain his combat edge, Kirche spent many idle moments attempting to figure out why Joshua didn't think she had respect for herself, Tabitha began studying N'bara when he was on the surface, and Louise began to acclimate herself to the wonders of having _fur_.

She wasn't very happy about that. Over the next three days, what had begun as extremely fine pink fur, of the same hue as her hair, barely poking out of the surface of her skin, grew into a dense covering that blocked the sight of her skin altogether. It didn't _itch_ exactly, but her fur rubbing against her clothes, and whatever else she happened to be in contact with, was an unfamiliar and constant sensation, and therefore a constant distraction.

It was a distraction she sometimes welcomed though, as after following Joshua's instructions to circulate her magic through every part of her body except for her head, other changes began. First, the tingling sensation that had begun some time ago began to remain _all_ the time, though it was more muted when she was not actively moving her internal energies to that part of her body.

Then one morning, she woke up, and _all_ of her bones hurt. _All of them_, though her skull and jaw so faintly she barely noticed through what was happening to the rest of her. That was the first time she took one of the pain pills, almost desperately opening the little tube and cramming one into her mouth. It took effect within minutes, and Louise found herself not only no longer in pain, but also slightly hyperactive, and somewhat euphoric.

She also almost tripped on her way out into the common room that morning. Her gait was forced to change, and once Joshua saw her, he immediately swept her off her feet, and told her that walking upright wasn't really going to be an option for her any longer, as her bones were changing, and she'd damage their growth if she walked in any quantity, putting too much pressure on the joints of her lower limbs. It wasn't hard for her to believe either; two days later the shape of her feet and ankles had changed to the point where she could no longer wear shoes.

That was when it really struck Louise for the first time that she was turning into something inhuman, and decided she needed to talk to Joshua about just what, exactly, she was turning into.

((()))

"Joshua?" Louise asked quietly when he came to check on her the next morning, "What am I turning into?"

Joshua conjured a small flame to illuminate Louise's darkened room, and studied her carefully before answering.

"I guess I thought the answer to that was kind of obvious," He said, "Come, and I will show you."

((()))

When Siesta got up that morning, she found that her mistress and Joshua were not in, an unusual thing so early in the day. In her experience, usually Joshua woke first, and would be doing exercises when she roused herself and began to prepare breakfast. Joshua would then check on Louise, before heating a section of the 'stove' for her to cook on, then once he was no longer needed, go to wake the mistress, and as of the last few days, carry her to breakfast. After breakfast, he would either bring Siesta to the surface, or simply go there himself, depending on the day.

It frustrated Siesta that even though she and the mistress now shared living quarters with him, he still spent no more than four hours in a given day with them, especially since she was not entirely sure _why_. Setting these thoughts aside, Siesta set about preparing an uncooked breakfast, and generally making herself busy until they returned.

So when Joshua returned, slipping out of the wall as he was wont to do, and carrying a madly grinning and giggling Louise, she was considerably confused. When she asked Joshua, he just smiled, and told her she'd learn about it soon enough.

((()))

Another week passed, with no substantial change visited on the three from the outside world. Kirche found, to her frustration, that finding Joshua and ensnaring him in conversation when he did not wish to be was apparently impossible for her, Tabitha noted that Joshua seemed supernaturally aware of when Kirche was approaching, Irukuku tried to figure out why Joshua smelled so strange, Siesta began a subtle campaign to get Joshua to open up to her, Colbert gave stern warnings to three young noblemen with wandering eyes and suggestive words, and Louise _hurt_.

Her body had begun to swell, driving her appetite into unbelievable extremes, as she ate at least five pounds of food, mostly meat, at every meal. It wasn't a bloated swelling, though her skin was painfully tight as it struggled to keep up with her expansion, it was her bones and organs expanding and reshaping, while her new layers of muscles developed over those that already existed. Louise was certain she was rapidly becoming frightfully strong, but it hurt too much to do anything except lay on her back, and could not test it; the last time she had attempted to sit upright, she had ended up taking the second pain-killer to silence the fire her efforts lit in her spine.

Louise's clothing no longer fit, and she was glad that the fur had come first now, as the steadily lengthening pink body hair was the only thing besides her cloak she now had to preserve her modesty. The couch was now Louise's sole domain when she was not in her bed, and Joshua transported her between the two on a cushion of air now, which he said helped him practice his control.

It was during this time that Louise decided that Siesta was seriously under-paid, and that she would never, _ever_ fire the pretty young woman from Tarbes. Hell, if that was what it took to ensure she never left Louise's service, she would conspire to see her handmaiden wed to her Familiar!

The reasons for Louise's gratitude towards Siesta were simple, though many-fold. Siesta was the only company Louise had during the day, and despite Louise's increasing infirmity, never once complained about being trapped in a hole in the ground with a mistress whose body was an aberration, and she always, _always_ had a friendly smile for Louise.

That meant a lot with the constant pain Louise was in. And not only was the young maid always friendly and cheerful, she was so in spite of what Louise could see was clear frustration with her ability to attempt to get closer to her Familiar, something that confused Louise. The maid was certainly pretty enough, and her friendly and cheerful disposition could hardly be taken as unpleasant, what was it about Siesta that kept Joshua at arm's length?

Siesta did one other very, very precious thing for Louise; she never looked at Louise with revulsion or disappointment, no matter how hideous her body might be, or how utterly incapable of taking care of herself she was becoming. Louise was as concerned about her appearance as any young noble lady, and after all of the put-downs and condescending looks she had received from her peers for her small and undeveloped physique, Siesta's treatment meant a great deal.

Especially when Louise was willing to admit to herself that Siesta was genuinely better looking than she was.

Her handmaiden also did everything she could to relieve her pains, massaging aching muscles, carefully feeding her by hand so that she didn't even have to sit up. Not to mention more humiliating things, such as assisting her with more discrete bodily functions; Louise desperately hoped that Joshua had not noticed her period coming and passing. Without Siesta, she would have _had _to ask his assistance in dealing with the sanitary issues involved, a humiliation she did _not_ wish to endure.

It was also during this time that a comment from Joshua, made after he caught Louise's grateful gaze directed at Siesta when the maid had fallen asleep in her chair while knitting, that made Louise begin to question just how important the divide between Nobles and Commoners really was, or more importantly, _wasn't_.

Change came again to life beneath Tristain Academy, when Louise's mother arrived at the Academy.

((()))

"Duchess Valliere!" Osmond said, surprise evident in his voice as he raised an eyebrow at the iron-faced woman who had just entered his office unannounced, "What brings you to the Academy?"

"My daughter," Karin Valliere ne Desiree said harshly, standing before Osmond's desk in an aggressive but not outright combative posture, "She was to have arrived at our estates weeks ago, and I have received no word from the Academy since your initial, _painfully vague_ message, regarding her injury."

"Indeed?" Osmond said, "Your arrival is the first sign we have had that our message was received at all."

Karin closed her eyes for a moment, though Osmond did not suffer the illusion that this made her more vulnerable to attack in the slightest, and when she opened them again, her posture shifted from 'aggressive' to 'displeased.'

"It appears someone has intercepted my messenger," Karin ground out, "Very well then. Where is my daughter now?"

"I am not sure as to her precise whereabouts," Osmond admitted, "You should ask either her handmaiden, Siesta, or her familiar, Joshua."

"Ask her familiar?" Karin asked sharply, "It is capable of speech?"

"_He_," Osmond said stressing the pronoun, "Is human, or at the least mostly so. He also defeated a line wind mage in a duel with little apparent effort, and possesses, at a minimum, an enchanted weapon and armor, as well as very strong views regarding equality between nobles and commoners."

Karin stared at Osmond for some time, eyes and face in no way revealing her thoughts, before speaking again.

"How did my daughter's familiar end up in a duel with a student?" She asked pointedly.

Osmond grimaced slightly; Karin knew that none of the teaching staff were less than triangle mages, and Osmond knew she had let her awareness of that slip just so that he would know that she knew more about his domain than she had strict need to.

"About that," Osmond said, "You should ask your old protégé, Colbert."

Karin nodded sharply, and left his office, asking no more permission to depart than she had to enter.

"Your pretty face may fool the old goat," She said to Osmond's secretary as she passed the young woman on her way out, "But it doesn't fool me."

((()))

Karin found Joshua first; he was much more distinctive than Siesta, who apparently was her daughter's new handmaiden, and the nobles in the academy simply did not pay much attention to the serving staff unless they had need to. She was, apparently, in luck, as the man spent two hours a day in the library, and she happened to be looking for him during this time, the _only_ time he could be depended upon to stay both in one place, and in sight, for any amount of time, since her daughter had left the Infirmary.

That nobody knew _where_ Louise had been taken did nothing to ease the anger Karin already felt.

When she found him in the library, holed up in one of the more remote corners, Karin immediately sized the Knight up. Even seated, she could see that he was tall, his hair was shaggy, and somewhat wild, running down almost to the collar of his armor in the back, and covering most of his forehead in front. His armor was a simple metallic gray, but crafted in a pattern and complexity she had never seen before, plate that did not covered the majority, but not all of his body, formed of manner smaller interlocking and overlapping pieces rather than a few larger plates. It was backed by some sort of black material that Karin could not identify, and that, if anything, worried her more than the faint engravings she could just discern the presence of from part way across the library.

His he held himself in his own variant of the half-relaxed posture that Karin had seen in hundreds of soldiers who were _always_ on guard, and could relax no further without risking their ability to respond promptly. His face bore a simple expression of focus, and revealed little to her.

"Ahem," She said, and the young man immediately turned his head to look at her, sizing her up in a swift glance, then following up with a more careful one.

"You must be Louise's mother," He said, "Karin of the Heavy Wind."

"Yes," Karin said sharply, "Though I rarely use that title in these days, as I am now the Duchess Valliere."

"I am Joshua N'bara," Joshua said, "Knight Errant of House Gorge, rank of Captain aboard the _Imminent Rebuke_, until I was summoned here, I was attached to the Marines. I assume you are here to see your daughter?"

"You assume correctly," Karin said, "Where is she?"

"In a secure location," Joshua said, placing a bookmark in the tome he had been reading, then snapping it shut and standing, "I will retrieve her for you."

"No," Karin commanded, "You will take me to her."

Joshua snorted, tension entering his face as he strode forward to stand directly in front of her.

"She is your daughter, Duchess Vallière," He said, "But she has been under _my_ care these past weeks. I am more than willing to remand her to your custody, but that does _not_ mean I am willing to reveal to you the location of my nearest safehouse."

Karin's eyes narrowed as she glared at the Knight in front of her.

"If you are truly my daughter's familiar," Karin said forcefully, "You answer to her, and she answers to _me, _placing you under my authority."

Joshua snorted derisively before responding.

"I don't know what being a Knight means in this world," Joshua said, a hard edge in his own voice, "But for any of those from my world, fighting off the compulsion enchantment in the familiar bond is nothing more than an irritation. I was summoned from the field of war, _Duchess_," He practically spat the word, "I could very well have treated your daughter as an enemy combatant for abducting an Officer during time of war. I answer to my superiors within House Gorge, and aboard the _Imminent Rebuke, not_ to a feudal noble in a foreign country."

Karin considered his words for a moment, but long-lived habits of decisive action, combined with her anger, pushed her into an aggressive response.

"Your nation and military, are not here," Karin said firmly, "This is Tristainia, and while you are here, you will respect _our_ laws and authorities."

Joshua laughed, a deep, full bodied laugh with an edge of deadly anticipation to it, which was also reflected on his face.

"_Try me_, woman," Joshua said, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword, "Shall we see how much of this Academy we can destroy in our duel? I've read about you, and unlike most of the idiot nobles that infest this continent, _you_ actually pose a credible threat to me."

He stepped closer to her again, glaring down at her.

"You might even manage to kill me," He said, "Of course, I might kill you too, but either way, you'll have quite the time finding your daughter, won't you?"

"Her handmaiden will tell me," Karin replied, not intimidated in the least.

"Siesta does not _know_," Joshua said harshly, "While she is a young woman of strong character, she is neither a soldier nor a warrior, and I would not entrust her with sensitive information as such. Now are we going to fight, or can you set aside your pissy ego for your daughter's sake, and accept a slight delay in seeing her? That is, if she even _wants_ to see you."

Karin ground her teeth, and resisted the urge to spit in the younger man's face, but she could see that he was not bluffing, he was more than ready to fight rather than submit to her authority. She did not like it, but she was not willing to take chances; at least, not until her daughter was safely in hand.

"Very well,' She ground out, "Where should I await your return?"

"In the forest outside the west gate," Joshua said, "If you have any trusted family retainers, feel free to bring them, but no one not sworn to your family's service."

He left before she could decide whether or not to argue with that condition.

((()))

"Louise," Joshua said, "Your mother is at the academy, and wants me to bring you to her."

The panic that lit in Louise's eyes revealed to Joshua a great deal more than Louise was capable of comprehending at the time, and his heart wrenched within him as he saw how another child feared their parent.

"If you don't want to see her," Joshua said gently, reaching down to lay an armored hand softly on her swollen and partially-transformed shoulder, "I'll just tell her that."

"You can't!" Louise said desperately, "She's… She's…"

She trailed off as she failed to find adequate words to express the fears of her mother's reaction to her altered body, as they conflicted with her worries of what would happen to Joshua, or anybody _else_ for that matter, if he attempted to deny her mother what she demanded.

Joshua watched the struggle, waiting for her to speak, but as it stretched from moments to minutes, with Louise only becoming more and more distraught, Joshua decided to offer an alternative.

"If you want," Joshua said reluctantly, "I will collect Siesta and some sheets, and have her set up a blind that you can speak to her from behind, while I guard it against her intrusion."

Desperate for any kind of solution, Louise agreed.

((()))

"Duchess Valliere," Joshua called as he approached her position at the edge of the forest.

She had four armsmen with her wearing the colors of House Valliere; Joshua sized them up. Well equipped with leather and ring mail, longswords and shortbows. Well trained too, judging by their stances, definitely more skilled than the academy guards, but still nowhere near his level. The way they oriented themselves around the Duchess also revealed that while they knew she was far more dangerous than any of them, they still took their jobs seriously. Joshua expected Karin would not tolerate anything less.

"Knight N'bara," Valliere responded icily to his greeting, glaring at him as he approached to within ten paces of her, "Where is my daughter, and what took you so long?"

"This way," Joshua said, turning away, and leading her further into the forest, "And I had to convince your daughter to come," Joshua said, "She did not wish to be seen," He paused and when he continued, his voice carried a heavy undertone of sarcasm, "It's almost as though she were _afraid_ of you, but she wouldn't have any reason to be afraid of her own _mother_ would she?"

One of the guards bristled at Joshua's words, but was too well-disciplined to do anything more.

"What, exactly, are you implying, Knight?" Karin said, her voice painfully sharp.

"That your daughter is afraid of you," Joshua said, not turning back to face the Duchess, "But we'll see soon enough, won't we?"

Karin resisted the urge to grind her teeth, and forced herself to wait. Finding her daughter came first, dealing with the commoner's impudence second. They walked for a handful of minutes through the forest, before arriving in a small clearing, on the opposite side of which an improvised enclosure had been formed from sheets hanging from tree branches. Standing just outside of the enclosure was a very pretty young woman dressed as a maid, with the distinctive facial features that could only be found in Tarbes; Karin assumed she was Siesta, Louise's new handmaiden.

"Louise," Joshua called, and Karin made mental note that even in direct address he failed to call her 'master,' "Your mother is here."

"Hello mother," came a voice from behind the sheets, that sounded slightly off, and strained, but Karin could clearly recognize as her daughter's.

"Louise," Karin said firmly, but not _quite_ harshly, "Come out of there at once."

A moment of silence passed before Louise responded.

"I can't," Louise said, stress rising in her voice, "I can't stand."

Karin immediately stormed across the clearing, signaling for her guards to remain where they were.

"Do you want me to let her in?" Joshua asked as he paced her, and Karin forced herself not to bristle at the implications of his statement.

"Don't try to stop her!" Louise called, voice slightly frantic, and Karin could see the Knight's jaw working tensely out of the corner of her eye.

It was not difficult for Karin to realize that Louise was more afraid of the Knight and herself fighting, than N'bara was himself. Considering Louise had personal experience with her, and N'bara did not, Karin chalked that up as a tentative indication she held an advantage over the Knight.

Then she reached the screens, and stepped inside. Her daughter lay inside, or what _had_ to be her daughter, though she was not entirely sure it _could_ be. Part of her rebelled at the idea that the misshapen creature mostly concealed beneath a blanket could be that which had issued forth from her own womb seventeen years ago, but there was too much of Louise in it for her to deny.

Louise's face was almost entirely untouched, save for the short, downy pink fur that covered it, but her hair had grown much, much longer, and was pooled around her. It was obviously still cared for, but there was no way it could have grown so much at natural speeds since Karin had last seen her daughter. What little of Louise's neck was not covered by the blanket was swollen, not in the manner of one who was, sick, but with thick corded muscles, and here the pink fur was thicker. Looking at the outline of her child under the blanket, she felt physically nauseous in a way she had not since before she was ten years old.

Her daughter's neck was inhumanely long, more than a foot in length, though not by much, and her torso and abdomen were much larger than they should have been, and their shape was subtly changed. The changes were most noticeable in Louise's limbs, however, both arms and legs noticeably stouter and strong, and her knees now reverse-jointed. Her hands and feet had changed substantially as well, the digits extending from each large enough to each be individually outlined by the blanket.

"Hello Mother," Louise said weakly, eyes filled with pain as she stared up at what looked a great deal like an older version of her, before her transformation had begun.

Karin's heart lurched violently within her, desperate desire to solve her daughter's problem utterly stymied by a complete lack of knowledge about what was going on. A small, atrophied part of Karin screamed at her to kneel down and embrace her daughter, but The Heavy Wind that Karin Desiree had lived as her entire life decided upon another course of action.

"You," She hissed, spinning in place to face Joshua, glaring at him, "What have you done to my daughter?"

"It is not what _I_ did to her," He said, staring stone-faced back at her, "I am descended from a Dragon, the magic and blood of Dragons flows through my veins, and your daughter bound herself to that. She did so without informing me of what in all such a bond would mean, or allowing me to explain to her what the consequences of such a thing could be. Now the magic of my people mixes with her own through the bond she formed; she has, out of ignorance, done this to herself."

"That is _not_ how the familiar bond works," Karin spat, drawing her wand, "You will give me the truth, or I will _force_ it from you."

"And you know all things of all magic?" Joshua roared, stepping back and out of the enclosure as he drew his sword, "That you can say with such certainty that it could not be?"

"No," Karin growled, "But I know enough to say _that_ is not a possibility."

"Truly?" Joshua said derisively, "In your world, there are five elements of magic, of which one has been 'lost' for millennia. In my world, there are _nine_, one of which was rediscovered less than four hundred years ago, and new ways of using each are discovered every year. I have _read_ your culture's history woman, you have stagnated for _SIX THOUSAND YEARS!"_

The last he shouted, his face twisted in anger.

"SIX THOUSAND YEARS!" He roared again, and Karin could feel the heat of his anger as he retreated into the clearing, "In which not only your magic, but also your _technology_ has been all but stagnant! In _five hundred years_ my people have gone from where yours are now, to machines so advanced you would think them driven by magic! We had machines that flew through the air, vehicles drawn by no animal that could move _thousands_ of miles in a single hour, before we even knew magic _existed!_"

Joshua was breathing hard, visible waves of heat rolling off his body as he shouted his anger at her.

"DON'T PRESUME TO LECTURE ME ON WHAT IS AND IS NOT POSSIBLE, IGNORANT WOMAN!" He screamed, spit sizzling away into steam as it left his mouth.

That was the final slight for Karin, and without saying a word, she thrust forward with her wand, and sent a powerful blast of compressed air at him, aimed at blasting him across the clearing, and _shutting him up._

Joshua's sword moved with lightning speed, smashing into the blast of air the instant before it struck him, and causing the spell to shatter, the mass of air decompressing in a uselessly defuse way, barely jostling Joshua.

"You know," He growled, his entire body tensing as he lowered himself into an aggressive stance, "It's telling how tries to end an argument with violence. It either means they have less self control than the other person, or they can't think of any other way to win. AHHHHH!"

Screaming, engraved runes across his armor coming aglow, and his sword bursting into flame, he charged Karin.

Karin spat, and gestured sharply with her wand, a powerful wall of wind rapidly forming and moving in on Joshua's left side even as she retreated from him. To her shock, he simply tossed his sword from his left hand to his right, and with a gesture from his left hand, disrupted her spell.

_Osmond did not say that he was a Wind mage, _Karin thought furiously, _nor that he could cast without a focus. Or is his armor the focus?_

"Supporting fire!" She barked to her armsmen, two of whom were already drawing their bows, the other two of whom had been advancing on the Knight with swords drawn.

The two with swords sheathed them and drew back, while Karin leapt into the sky, wrapping her Wind magic around her to pull her further into the air, and out of the reach of the swordsman beneath her.

The Knight leapt after her, jumping higher than should have been possible for an unarmored man, much less one as heavily armored as he, but Karin withdrew more quickly than he could follow. As the arc of his jump peaked, however, Joshua swept his sword at her, and a blast of flame issued forth. Karin disrupted it with a blade of wind without a thought, still sizing up her opponent's abilities, considering before she began offense in earnest of her own.

Joshua slammed into the earth, digging deep divots into the grassy soil even as his entire body flexed to absorb the impact. Karin could see that he had not cushioned his blow with any kind of wind spell; the impact still should have broken his legs, but as he stood and faced her again, it was obvious that it had not.

Anger was plain on his face as he glared up at her, and it was obvious that he spoke his next words with distaste.

"As much as I hate it," He ground out, the fire fading from his sword, and the glow from his runes, "We shouldn't fight, especially around your daughter and Siesta. This is just a dominance pissing match, and as much as I hate the corpulence of your society, this won't fix it."

Karin answered him as she did every man who drew blade against her, with her wand, and her armsmen followed suit with their bows.

((()))

Classes at the Tristain Academy were interrupted as a massive bestial howl of pain and anger resounded from the forest to the west, drawing the attention of all within save a few over-exhausted staff too deeply within sleep to awaken.

Colbert, who was speaking with Osmond about his old commander's visit, shared a glance with the old headmaster, then immediately left for the forest.

Kirche and Tabitha, who did not have class that hour and were idling in the Vestri court with their familiars, also arrived at a decision with a single glance; they, however, had the speed advantage over Colbert in the form of Dragon flight.

((()))

Snarling, Joshua slammed his jaw down on the arrow that had hooked his cheek, crushing it, and spat out bloody splinters. Hurling his sword at Karin for a moment's distraction, he ripped the other end of the arrow out of his cheek with his right hand, while his left extended out into midair, and closed over something intangible. With a muffled blast of fire, a metallic helm with a reflective faceplate appeared in the hand, and Joshua placed it over his head.

Karin had easily evaded the sword, and was winding up her own offense, when she saw the helmet appear in the Knight's hand. She hesitated for a moment, wondering what, exactly she had just seen, for the helmet was _far_ too finely crafted for him to have simply conjured whole from earth magic, and she knew of nothing else that could have created such a thing. Then he placed it on his head, and it tightened _itself_ into place, fitting extending down to dock with the collar of his armor, forming a seamless bond with that which protected the rest of his body.

Then his sword was abruptly in his hand again, wreathed in flames once more, and a glance behind her informed Karin that he had not simply conjured a new blade, but instead somehow recalled the one that she had dodged a moment before. Doubt nagged at her consciousness for a moment, but then she saw him begin to turn towards her armsmen, and the time to act was upon her.

"Retreat!" She commanded her armsmen, and began to cast _real_ combat spells.

((()))

Siesta watched the fight in mute horror. Being a member of the staff at the academy meant she had seen nobles practicing their magic a great deal, and when Sothos and Joshua had fought, she thought she had seen what real magical combat was like.

Now, though, she realized that assumption had made her even more ignorant than when she had, more accurately, thought she knew nothing at all.

The Duchess' Valliere's first spell after the battle was rejoined smashed into an area a dozen paces across, crushing the earth down into a noticeable indentation centered on where Joshua had been when she cast the spell. Joshua was fast, _far_ faster than he had been when fighting Sothos, but the Heavy Wind was faster still, and he was only halfway outside of the area of the spell when it struck. It slapped him down into the earth like an angry soldier swatting at an irritating crow, slamming him into the earth.

Joshua just roared in anger, still clearly audible through his helmet, and stood again, giving absolutely no indication whatsoever that he had been injured, and ripped a rock out of the earth the size of a small man. He had no chance to use it, however, as another spell slammed down onto him, striking even harder than the first, shattering the rock and pressing him forcefully into the ground.

Then he disappeared into the ground altogether, slipping away into the earth as Siesta had seen him do many times before, and she desperately hopped that this gave him some sort of advantage.

She, herself, turned her attention to her mistress, to try to figure out how to move her away from the fight, and fill her in on what was happening.

((()))

Karin scowled when she realized what N'bara had done; the move was as much a staple of high-level combat for earth magi as flying was for wind magi, and was damned hard to deal with. Worse, it meant that he was at a minimum a triangle mage, showing abilities in earth, wind, and fire. Karin herself had been a square mage for decades, and was more than confident of her ability to out-magic the Knight, but triangle-level magic, combined with his inhuman durability and unknown conjuring powers made him a dangerous unknown quantity.

Raising a strong wind barrier around herself and moving down to the level of the treetops to make herself less of a target, Karin considered her next move. Her opponent would be inviolate for as long as he remained beneath the earth, but they would both be blind to the other's position until he surfaced. He had, thus far shown no effective ability to attack her while she was airborne, and she had plenty of stamina to remain in the air for hours without impeding her combat ability.

This meant she needed to lure her target to the surface, thinking himself capable of striking, without exposing herself. She had the perfect spell for the job.

((()))

Joshua lay beneath the earth, probing the tear in his cheek with his tongue. He had underestimated Karin's armsmen because of their primitive equipment and inferior (to his) martial prowess. It was, obviously now, an idiotic mistake, which he would most likely carry a scar from for as long as he was trapped in this ass-backward world with its antiquated medical technology.

Once he had determined the bleeding would not be sufficient to endanger him or impede his combat ability, he pushed the wound, and accompanying pain, out of his mind, and extended his magical senses, seeking out magic. As always, he was first and most immediately aware of his bond to Louise and her strange magic, and its subtle but persistent attempts to shape his behavior towards the girl. It also directed him towards the girl's general location, but due to the conflict of his magic against hers through the link, he could not pin down her location with any real precision.

Which was unfortunate, as if he had been able, he could have simply retrieved Louise, and Siesta, and withdrawn from the field of battle. It would have left him more than slightly angry to do so, but protection before destruction. Pushing the sensations the bond fed him aside, he reached out further, spreading his awareness through the world above the forest floor. He immediately sensed something that reeked of Karin's intensely powerful and tightly disciplined wind magic, but was nowhere near strong enough to be the woman herself.

He knew that a mage more talented at magic detection, or just a great deal more experienced than him, would likely have been able to discern the magic's shape and purpose, but he lacked the ability, and his anger would have made focusing that clearly difficult anyways. Then he sensed a second magical mass of nearly identical composition, then another, and another, and _another._

Determining he needed more information, Joshua neared the surface, and extended a small fiber-optic probe from his helmet through to the surface, and took a look around through it. At every point he sensed the mass of wind magic, there was a clone of Karin.

_So apparently 'wind' for Karin includes illusion,_ Joshua thought, _Well, this I can use._

((()))

Karin silently watched her wind clones scour the earth beneath her, keeping track of the half-dozen copies as best she could while remaining reasonably concealed herself. She was neither perfectly concealed, nor totally aware of all of the clones at all times, but long experience had taught her that all that mattered was that she was concealed _well enough_, was aware _enough_, to defeat her opponent. Perfection was to be sought in training, in battle, 'mere' success was all that mattered.

She was 'fortunate' enough to be directly watching one of her clones when a thicket of stone lances leapt out of the ground and skewered it through. It dispersed into a mass of air and moisture, dampening the earthen lances as it faded. Karin's clones immediately raced over to the area, studying the forest floor intently, looking for signs of where Joshua had emerged from to direct his spell.

Frowning, Karin realized he need not necessarily have fully emerged, or even emerged up to his waist; she was not certain yet if his spells required a focus or not, but if they didn't, all he would have needed was to emerge enough to _see _the clone. Changing tactics, Karin subtly directed her clones through her magical tie to them, commanding them to group up in a large clearing and keep a tight watch. She herself conjured a wall of mist to surround the edge of the clearing, blocking out the ability to see within from the forest, hoping to force him to emerge within the clearing itself.

((()))

A bloody, disfigured grin was concealed behind Joshua's helmet, as that part of him that thrilled in struggle, rivalry, and competition sent him near vibrating with excitement. She was _good_, oh was she _ever_ good. By the sheer weight of the spells she was throwing around, he knew that she was a top-tier battlemage, at least amongst those less than a century old, and in this world, was possibly a peerless warrior, but even so, she fought with her brain, rather than simply attempting to use overwhelming force as a path to victory.

Joshua _loved _attempting the 'impossible,' and defeating one of the, if not the, greatest warrior in this realm, certainly appealed to him as such. Now, it was time for _him_ to go on the offensive.

((()))

In the center of the clearing Karin occupied, the ground began to rumble, then crack. Karin's clones quickly fled to the wall of mist encompassing the clearing, and none too soon.

The core of the clearing erupted in an explosion of fire and earth, flinging chunks of molten rock upwards and outwards, one of which destroyed one of the wind clones. Rising up through the explosion of magma and rock came an armored Dragon, far larger than the immature Irukuku, its main body was the sixe of a van, with powerful limbs like thick tree trunks ending in deadly claws, immense wings flaring up and out, flicking more lava about the clearing and starting dozens of spot fires in the forest beyond.

It roared, a deep challenging shout at the world at large, defying any and all who would face it. Then it turned and faced Karin, the _real_ Karin, eyes blazing with a fiery light from behind the visored helm, and spoke.

"Last chance, Heavy Wind," The Dragon said, its massive voice causing the trees around Karin to shiver, "Surrender."

For a fraction of a second, shock paralyzed Karin's mind. _This_ was the Knight she had been fighting? The only creature known capable of transformative magic, as well as intelligent speech, was a Rhyme Dragon, but they had been thought _extinct_ for…

Karin's face twisted into a fierce, exultant smile. Her daughter was not weak. No, Louise was not weak, not at _all._ In all the millennia since Brimir founded Halkegenia, _no one_ had summoned a familiar more powerful than a Rhyme Dragon, and it was already plain to Karin that her daughter's familiar was both immensely powerful, and more importantly, had cunning to match.

Now, it was simply a matter of bringing her daughter's familiar to heel, and forcing it to reverse whatever transformative magic it had been working upon Louise.

"You are a magnificient beast," Karin said, voice projecting clearly over the forest, amplified by her wind magic, "I am proud to see that my daughter has summoned so powerful a creature, even if she has failed to control it, as yet. But she is young yet, whereas I, am _not_."

And with that, she hurled one of her most powerful attack spells at the Dragon, a staggered series of concussive waves with which she had pulverized entire companies of soldiers before.

((()))

Tabitha and Kirche, sitting astride Slyphid, closed with the battle from above just in time to see a shroud of mist blasted away from a clearing, revealing an armored Dragon crouched down, with claws anchored, in a small puddle of lava. The blast of lava subsided, and it lunged forward, spitting a white-hot fireball at a pink-haired noble flying through the forest. The mage readily dodged, and used a shield of wind to protect itself from wooden shrapnel when the fireball shattered a tree trunk a dozen yards behind her, simultaneously casting another offensive spell.

Tabitha's eyes widened as she recognized the spell; it was an air-lance spell, very similar to a staple combat spell amongst line-class wind mages, save that it was orders of magnitude more powerful, and could only be cast by square-class mages. And the pink-haired mage had just cast it, _easily_, simultaneously with another spell; Tabitha knew of only one wind mage capable of such feats in all of Halkeginia.

"That is Karin of the Heavy Wind," Tabitha informed Kirche and Sylphid, pointing at the pink haired caster.

Kirche's eyes widened and her jaw dropped open as she stared.

The Dragon thrust itself directly forward into the spell, taking it to the armored chest, which Tabitha was sure would kill it, but the spell somehow failed to penetrate its armor. Roaring, the Dragon wound back one of its forelimbs, and a massive sword suddenly appeared in its grasp, which it used to bat aside a repeat of the wind lance, then another, and another, as it pressed forward towards the edge of the clearing, and the Heavy Wind fell back further into the forest.

It was obviously to everyone that the Dragon was too large to maneuver in the forest, and Irukuku _kyuui'd_ in distress as she worried after the Dragon's welfare. When it reached the edge of the forest, it again dug into the earth with three of its claws, soaking another lance to the chest, and coiling its long neck back as it did so, inhaling deeply, more deeply than seemed possible even for such a massive creature.

The Dragons massive sword burst into flame, not only the surface of the blade catching fire, but the entire body of it glowing orange from the sudden transfusion of heat within, and with one thundering blow, the Dragon swept its blade through twenty-some feet of forest, cutting more than a dozen trees off at the base.

Then its head snapped forward like a striking snake, and it _breathed_. Its breath erupted with a thunderclap, decompressing air breaking the sound barrier as it rushed to fill all available surrounding space, and a blast-wave shattered the toppling tree trunks the Dragon had just felled, driving razor-sharp splinters and large lugs into the forest at lethal speeds.

Karin of the Heavy Wind instinctively launched a wedge-shaped battering spell directly towards the onrushing wave of the spell, then reinforced her shield, though the battering spell deflected all but smaller ricochets from striking her. Nothing penetrated her shield, but her vision was obscured for several long moment.

From above, Tabitha and company could see the Dragon, of all things chewing up and swallowing chunks of earth, keeping a wary eye directed towards the cloud of smoke and dirt between itself and Karin. To the onlooker's considerable surprise, the Dragon tracked Karin's movements, even through the totally obscuring cloud, as the mage began tracking left.

The moment that both combatants had clear sight of each other, Karin attacked, physically rushing her opponent, to the surprise of all save herself. Roaring in challenge, the Dragon readied itself to meet her, poising its sword for a thrust towards the diminutive mage.

They struck out at each other simultaneously, the Dragon with his massive sword, which had a tang broader than Karin's entire body, and Karin with another lance of wind. Unlike the Dragon, Karin proved more than capable of simultaneous offense and defense, another wind spell deflecting his blade as she continued to close; unlike Karin, the Dragon proved not to need such, its sheer mass and armor readily absorbing the blow.

Then Karin latched onto one of the Dragon's breastplates, and slammed a simple spell into him at point blank range. Snarling, the Dragon responded by slamming its chest into the ground, but Karin had already slipped out of the way, flying up over its back, and firing off another hasty spell. The Dragon rolled on the ground, whipping its sword up and over at the mage, having somehow aimed its blow accurately even without being able to see her, and slamming its sword directly into her shield, knocking her flying into the forest.

Karin, momentarily dazed, operated purely on reflex, tucking into a ball to lower her target profile, and pouring all her available energy into her shield. She smashed through two smaller trees, before coming to a hard stop against an ancient chestnut, further stunning her, which only spurred her to tighten her defenses until her head cleared.

Then the Dragon _breathed _again.

This time, however, it did not simply spew a mass of compressed air, instead a hurricane of fire and superheated stone erupted from its mouth at supersonic velocities, tearing the landscape and forest before it to shreds in a baptism of fire and brimstone. The forest itself erupted in flame, the heat of the blast alone being enough to ignite it, the direct flames themselves merely amplifying the process.

The Dragon held itself at ready, breathing heavily as it stared through the holocaust of heat, flame, smoke and ash to see if it had slain its opponent, taking deep, panting breaths.

It was in that moment that the clones of Karin, which the Dragon had been ignoring up until that point, struck, each simultaneously pouring all the energy contained within their spell-matrices into a single wind lance, all targeting the Dragon's head. Of the four lances, the Dragon managed to dodge one.

One was not enough.

The lances slammed into the Dragon's armored skull repetitive blunt force passing through the armor in sufficient quantities to knock the Dragon unconscious, concussing it heavily.

The Dragon collapsed heavily to the scorched earth as the clones dispersed, and nothing happened for several long moments.

Then Karin of the Heavy Wind, breathing harshly, face tight with pain, flew slowly out of the holocaust the Dragon's breath weapon had created, staring warily at the unconscious Dragon, her wand held in her left hand, and trained on the unconscious beast. Her right arm was gone, torn off from the shoulder down, the wound cauterized by the mass of magma that had ripped the limb off in the first place. The arm itself was hovering along behind her, held in a grip of the legendary mage's Wind magic.

Moving cautiously, carefully, Karin bound the Dragon with manacles of wind magic, then touched down on its armored head to see if it was really unconscious. Its head was larger than all of her put together, and aside from its claws, contained the only part of the Dragon's body not shielded by its armor. Its eyes no longer glowed through their reflective covering, and Karin carefully inspected its open mouth, especially its tongue. The muscle was totally lax, which Karin took as all the confirmation of the creature's lack of consciousness she would be able to get without _much_ more thorough investigation, which she was in no condition to conduct herself.

"You two!" She shouted up to Tabitha and Kirche, "Get down here!"

((()))

Colbert would have recognized _that _voice of command on his deathbed. And part of him fully expected Karin to show up when he was dying and order him not to. She was like that with the few subordinates she trusted; death was not an option. His jog hastened to a run at that point, and he arrived at a clearing, recently and violently expanded, finding about the last thing he expected.

For starters, the center of the clearing was a puddle of lava, waves of heat distortion rising off of it, and the surrounding grass was ash. One side of the clearing had been enlarged by what he guessed was some form of massed wind-blade attack, which had left wood shrapnel and sawdust driven further into the woods. The other side of the clearing featured two of his students, two dragons, one standing nervously, the other armored and apparently unconscious, the early stages of a forest fire extending into an utterly demolished section of the forest, and Karin of the Heavy Wind firmly ordering the two students while she gestured with her right arm.

Which was being held in her left hand, as it was no longer directly attached to her body.

Colbert made haste across the clearing. Karin, of course, detected his approach, and addressed him as he closed.

"Jean," She said, giving him a respectful nod as greeting, "It's good to see you're not completely out of shape. Tell me, are the academy healers up to dealing with this?"

She raised her severed arm questioningly. Colbert noted that Tabitha gave no more, or less, reaction than she did to anything else, something that deeply disturbed him, while Kirche looked like she was fighting not to revisit her most recent meal.

"The healers have the skill," Colbert said, "I'm not certain they'd have the reagents in stock, however."

"Are they proficient with sleep spells?" Karin asked.

"I believe so," Colbert said, slightly confused, "Though I've not had much need to know about such."

"Well," Karin said, turning back to Kirche and Tabitha, and gesturing towards the school with her severed arm, "Off you two go, be swift."

Kirche nodded, her eyes still on the aberrant appendage, as Tabitha guided her back to the bluenette's familiar. The two mounted, and took off, flying swiftly back towards the Academy.

"Now Jean," Karin said, turning back to the balding man with a smile, "How have you been?"

What followed was the most surreal 'catching up' conversation Colbert had ever, and would ever, have.

((()))

AN: Probably the last you'll see of this particular story for a while.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: I'm back for another few updates on this. I'll probably pull it to the end of a plot mark and then move on to other things.

Chapter 4

Karin stared silently at the massive bulk of the Dragon unconscious in her family's stable. It was rather disconcerting, even for her, to realize that its head and mouth were quite literally large enough to swallow her whole, if the creature had ever successfully come close enough to do so. It was fatiguing her family's Healer considerably to constantly enspell the Dragon to keep it unconscious, but Karin knew that the instant it awoke, violence would resume.

The fact that its armor seemed resistant to magic, only made matters worse. The journey back to the Valliere estate from the academy had been slow, what with hauling the Dragon's bulk and her youngest daughter's delicate condition. In spite of the days it had taken for the journey, and the two days at the Academy it had taken for Karin to be healed and recover adequately, Karin and her men had only managed to begin removing the Dragon's armor.

Colbert, who had been the one ultimately to figure out how to remove the first piece of armor, one of the claw-gauntlets, had been rather firmly of the opinion that the armor was explicitly designed to be hard to remove, unless one knew exactly how it was done. Considering that during the entire journey, the only other components they had managed to remove were the other gauntlet, or perhaps boots would be a more appropriate term, and part of the greaves. The creature's entire torso, tail, neck, and head were still armored.

Even with the armor, though, it was easy for Karin to discern just what this creature had been attempting to turn her daughter into. Why it had been trying to transform her daughter into one of its own kind, she was uncertain, but she doubted she would like its motives any more than she liked the endeavor itself.

A gentle knock on the stable's door interrupted Karin's thoughts.

"Come in, Cattleya," Karin said, "I want you to take a look at this."

The door swung open slowly, and Cattleya entered slowly, being assisted by her personal handmaiden, Gretchen. The dark-skinned Germanian girl was shorter than Cattleya, but was a stout and sturdy as Cattleya was frail, and long since accustomed to helping Cattleya about the Valliere estates. Cattleya herself could have been a carbon copy of Karin, save that Karin, in developed musculature, posture, attitude, expression, and that special something extra that goes beyond natural senses, radiated a hard strength, and Cattleya was the very essence of delicate gentleness and compassion.

"Oh!" Cattleya said, once she was far enough into the stable to catch sight of the Dragon, "What a magnificent creature! Wherever did you find it?"

"This is Louise's familiar," Karin said, her voice firm, rather than harsh for her sickly daughter, "What do you know of Rhyme Dragons?"

"Oh mother," Cattleya said with a smile, indicating for Gretchen to help her towards the Dragon, "_That_ is not a Rhyme Dragon, just for starters, it has fur!"

Cattleya gestured towards the Dragon's legs, which were, indeed, covered in fur.

"Whatever made you think it was a Rhyme Dragon?" Cattleya asked.

"It is intelligent, capable of using magic, and can alter its form to that of a human."

"By the Founder!" Cattleya said excitedly, he slow gait quickening slightly, "This is an entirely new species then! However did Louise summon such a thing?"

"According to Louise," Karin said, "She simply conducted the Familiar Summoning ritual in the same way as any other student. Are you _certain_ this isn't a Rhyme Dragon? They are the only species known to exhibit such traits."

"Unless this is a Rhyme Dragon that used its transformative abilities to grant itself fur," Cattleya said firmly as she reached the creature, "This is _not_ a Rhyme Dragon. However did Louise acquire such high-quality armor for the creature?"

"According to her account," Karin said, "It was in human form when she summoned it, and she has never seen it outside of its armor, though it rarely wore the helmet."

"Its armor shifted forms with it?" Cattleya said, eyes going wide as she carefully sat down and began a tactile inspection of the Dragon's leg.

Karin nodded. Cattleya was an earth mage, though not much of one as her body did not handle the stress of magic very well, but like her younger sister, she had compensated for her lack of practical ability with prodigious academic study. She was not as well-versed in magic as Eleanor, who was an outright academic, but Cattleya was extensively familiar with both the technical and more ephemeral elements of earth magic, in order to better allow her to make efficient use of what little power she could safely channel. Due to this, she was quite aware that the Dragon's armor had to be, of necessity, not only masterfully crafted, but masterfully enchanted.

Cattleya frowned as she ran her hands through the Dragon's shaggy fur, finding it to be coarse and ruff, with a thicker undercoat appropriate to a creature that lived in cold climates.

"Mother," Cattleya said firmly, looking up at the woman, "There is more to this than a simple summoning. What is going on?"

So Karin told her everything she had seen herself, and everything Louise had told her thus far.

((()))

Siesta's world had changed a great deal in the last month. As with the changes to Miss Louise and Joshua's lives, it had begun with the Knight's summoning, but unlike for them, the effects had taken some time to set in. Her extended contact with Miss Louise, first as the only member of the general castle staff literate enough to help the girl, and later as her personal handmaiden, had been the first time she had really gotten to know a noble. Miss Louise had been every bit as proud as she had expected of a noble, but had completely lacked the pettiness she had come to expect from them.

And, of course, Miss Louise had immediately moved to protect her as soon as she had discovered Siesta was in distress. It was the first time Siesta could think of that any noble had done anything genuinely beneficial for anyone she had ever known. And then, of course, Joshua had _fought_ for her. And _won_. True, it had not been anything special about her that inspired him to fight, but in some ways that was better, because of what it said about his strength of character.

As time continued to pass, working in Miss Louise's service, Siesta found that Louise was not only a noble she could respect, but something between a friend and a little sister that she could feel pity for. Getting to know the diminutive pinkette had taught Siesta that while most nobles paid no concern at all for the things that commoners lived and died over, they had things of their own that worried them. Siesta still felt that most nobles would benefit greatly from spending a year living as a commoner, and that they had little appreciation for how easy their lives were, but Siesta would prefer her close-knit, warm, and loving family, or the ready camaraderie amongst the staff at the Academy as a commoner, to the twisted webs of social intrigue amongst the noble-born students at the academy.

Certainly, it would be nice to be able to partake of the rich foods, and have a great deal more time to read rather than work twelve hours out of the day, but she would not take such things if it meant the distance, the lack of trust, the _isolation_, that the nobles experienced. It also made it easier for Siesta to understand how callous nobles could be towards commoners, as they were treated so coldly by their peers, and even their 'friends.'

And then Miss Louise's mother, the legendary Karin of the Heavy Wind herself, had come to the Academy, and Siesta had learned that the coldness and distance extended even to _within_ noble families. The terror in Miss Louise's eyes when she discovered that her mother was coming to the Academy…

After what the Duchess Valliere had done to Joshua, part of Siesta could _easily_ understand being frightened of the woman, especially after seeing how she had seemed to completely ignore the fact that her arm had been torn off in the fight. But still, but _still…_

Part of Siesta's heart simply could not comprehend how anyone could be, or why they would ever _need to be_ afraid of their own _mother_. It made Siesta's heart ache for her patron, and all the more so once she saw the mixture of relief and brokenness in Miss Louise's eyes when the young noblewoman learned that her familiar had survived the fight with her mother, but lost.

The young Valliere had been like a shell ever since, simply laying silently in the covered carriage that had carried them to the Valliere estate. She answered questions when asked, but never initiated conversation herself, and Siesta suspected that if she had not already been hand-feeding Miss Louise her meals due to her physical changes, the girl would not have accepted food. Between the pain of her body's changes, and the young woman's black mood, Louise barely moved, only the occasional painful tremble running through her body.

Siesta tried as best she could to relieve Miss Louise's pain, massaging her muscles gently, reading aloud to her from her academy texts, and simply holding the girl's head in her lap, stroking the hair that was beginning to become more of a mane. The only direct sign of response she received was when sometimes, when they had stopped for the night, Louise would turn her head into Siesta's lap and cry silently. Siesta usually ended up crying as well.

Part of the reason she spent so much time with Louise was because she couldn't bear to leave the carriage any more often than she absolutely needed to. Outside the carriage, she would have to see Joshua, in the form of a dragon, tied down, in an enchanted sleep, and slung across four carts hauling him to the Valliere estates. It broke her heart to see the strong _fierce_ Knight who had been both her and Miss Louise's protector, and in many ways, provider, held in captivity.

Siesta had not seen the fight between Joshua and the Heavy Wind, but she had _heard _it, and seen the aftermath. Some of the lava had still been glowing with heat when she followed Miss Louise's escort to where Duchess Valliere stood with Professor Colbert beside the unconscious Dragon-form of Joshua. It seemed as though half the forest had been destroyed by their battle, and there was a massive sword sticking out of the earth nearby. And Karin of the Heavy Wind conversing casually with the Professor while she waved her arm about for emphasis.

A very small part of Siesta was fiercely proud that Joshua had been able to wound the harsh woman, especially considering her legendary combat abilities. More than anything else though, she was terrified of the woman who stood so casually in such destruction, terrified for herself, her mistress, and the man she was falling in love with. At least the Duchess seemed to respect her position in relation to Louise, and considering that she could have effectively fired Siesta by cutting Louise's allowance from her family, that mattered a great deal.

While part of Siesta wanted to flee back to Tarbes and her family, Siesta refused to repay those who had shown her such loyalty to her with abandonment. And that had brought her, more than a week after the Duchess had arrived at the Tristain Academy, to the Valliere estates. Siesta had known, in abstract, that the Valliere's were the wealthiest noble family in Tristainia, when she accepted Miss Louise's offer of employment, but seeing the Valliere estate had suddenly driven that into a very pointed reality.

It was massive. Unlike many modern nobles, the Vallieres still retained their residence in a castle, rather than a manor-house, and even Siesta's untrained eyes could see it was still kept at battle-readiness. As they approached, she could see that a fair number of the ballistas lining the outer wall were manned, and archers posted on the inner walls kept a watch upon the skies. Siesta was by no means a student of warfare, much less the strategy and tactics involved in a siege, but the multi-pointed shape of the castle, with the entrance lying in the recessed area between two of the points, looked like quite a painful place to assault to her.

Once she entered the castle, she found that it contained an entire village's worth of residents. All wore the crest of the Valliere family somewhere on their garb, and even in the short period of time it took for them to pass through outer courtyard, gate through the inner wall, inner courtyard, and into the central keep, Siesta identified a smith, two farriers, a number of farmers, a plethora of armsmen, three cooks, two scribes, and any number of general servants. While they passed through the inner courtyard, the group separated as Joshua was taken to the stables, and Siesta moved with her mistress into the inner keep.

The inner keep, Siesta found, was designed in a very similar manner to the Tristain Academy, which helped her feel a little less out of place, something she appreciated. Moving Miss Louise from the carriage had been a delicate matter; Siesta had once again covered her mistress with sheets, and a quartet of armsmen carried her carefully into the keep under the Duchess watchful eyes. The youngest Valliere's quarters were on the third floor of the keep, but the Duchess cleared the way ahead of them to ensure that no one would catch a glimpse of her youngest daughter.

Siesta found that Miss Louise's chambers were even larger than her quarters at the academy had been, though at this point that did not surprise her. They included a sitting room, which is where the primary entrance from the rest of the keep was, a bathroom and a bedroom, both of which branched directly off from the sitting room, and a smaller maid's quarters, which adjoined the bedroom, and also had a servant's exit to the rest of the castle. Siesta expected she would be spending a considerable amount of time in her mistress quarters in the coming days.

((()))

"Ahem," A gentle voice sounded, snapping Siesta to wakefulness.

She had fallen asleep in Miss Louise's bedroom, with the younger woman's head cradled in her lap. It had not originally been her intention, but it was very difficult for Miss Louise to get to sleep these days, and once she had fallen asleep on her lap, moving her was out of the question. Rather abruptly awakened, Siesta was made aware of the muscle cramps and aches that came from sleeping in a largely upright position, and, of course, that someone else was now in the room.

She blinked bleary eyes, trying to focus on the room's new occupant, but all she could see was the silhouette of a woman with pink hair and a dark blur at her side. Brain still not operating on all cylinders, Siesta hunched protectively over the unconscious girl in her lap.

"Please, Duchess Valliere," She whispered, still trying to blink her eyes clear, "Miss Louise needs her rest."

"Oh, I quite agree," A gentle, amused voice said quietly, "However, I believe you have me confused with my mother."

Siesta shook her head, then carefully raised her hands to wipe her eyes clear, then attempted to focus on the pink-haired figure in front of her again. Once her vision cleared, Siesta wasn't sure if she should be embarrassed or not. Aside from an obviously frail physique, the young woman in front of her was practically identical to Karin Valliere, her completely different demeanor notwithstanding.

"I'm very sorry, milady." Siesta said quietly, her cheeks deciding an embarrassed blush was appropriate even if the rest of her wasn't sure.

"I am Cattleya," The woman said softly as the maid assisting her helped her over towards Siesta, "Louise's elder sister. I understand you are Siesta, her new handmaiden?"

Siesta nodded silently, uncertain of what to do. Cattleya picked up on the young woman's nervousness, and smiled gently at her, and indicated for her own handmaiden to help her sit down beside the maid.

"I am something of an expert on creatures," Cattleya said softly, "Both magical and non, and my mother asked me to have a look at the Dragon. She thought it was a Rhyme Dragon, but it isn't; Rhyme Dragons don't have fur. In fact, I am unsure if _any_ Dragon species known in Halkeginia has fur. After I explained this to her, she filled me in on the events of Louise's summoning, and what has followed since. Unfortunately, my mother tends to be rather… _rigid_ in how she chooses to see things, so I was hoping you could explain them to me from a different point of view."

Siesta stared at the woman in confusion, not entirely understanding why a noble was asking her, a commoner, to tell her account, when she had already been told the story by a _Duchess_. Cattleya, recognizing the source of the pretty maid's confusion, reached over and gently pulled Siesta into a hug.

At that point, Siesta's stressed, frightened, and confused mind, short-circuited and stopped functioning altogether. With her restraint demolished, Siesta's body went limp, and tears began to course from her eyes. As the young woman began to completely fall apart, Cattleya carefully angled Siesta's body against her own, so that her head came to rest in the crook of Cattleya's neck, and began murmuring reassuring words in her ear.

Siesta fell asleep again within minutes, overwhelmed by her emotions.

((()))

Some hours later, after Siesta had roused and recounted the story of Joshua N'bara's arrival and time in Halkeginia, before Cattleya firmly ordered her to rest properly, Gretchen escorted Cattleya back to her own quarters. Once Cattleya was ensconced in the reclineable chair that her father had specially constructed for her, and Cattleya had cast a subtle anti-eavesdropping spell, they began to speak.

"What do you think, milady?" Gretchen asked.

"I think," Cattleya said as she enticed one of the kittens that resided in her quarters into her lap, "That mother has completely misunderstood things." Cattleya sighed, before continuing, "Again."

"That's more or less what I picked up as well," Gretchen said wryly, "While a Rhyme Dragon would have the memory to remember all the details of a story invented on the spot, we have no way of knowing if this species would too. And even so, all the Dragon species known in Halkeginia are notoriously indifferent to human affairs, save where they directly overlap with their own. His behavior in both accounts seems more appropriate to a human capable of assuming the form of a Dragon."

"Yes," Cattleya said, eyes on the kitten in her lap, which was purring softly as she rubbed its belly, "And the simple lack of detail he gave is very consistent with a soldier stranded within a nation not allied, or even necessarily neutral, to his own."

Several minutes passed in silent thought, during which Gretchen appropriated one of the kittens that inhabited Cattleya's room to occupy her hands with as well.

"What will we do?" She eventually asked.

"I need to speak to this 'Joshua' myself," Cattleya said, "I will simply have to convince mother or father to allow him to awaken."

Gretchen nodded, and then asked the question that she had been carefully avoiding up until this point.

"And what of the changes to your sister's body?"

Cattleya lifted the kitten, and held it against her face and chest, her eyes closed, silently struggling with her emotions for some time before she responded.

"I don't know what to think yet," Cattleya said finally, her voice strained, "I do not like what Siesta described about how much pain my sister has been in. I'll need to speak with her tomorrow."

((()))

"Louise?" Cattleya called softly as Gretchen assisted her into her sister's chambers, "Are you in?"

A hurried, and barely audible, exchange of whispers from the bedroom was conducted, before an almost _growling_, croaking distortion of her sister's voice answered.

"Please don't look at me," Louise said, the brokenness in her voice making Cattleya's heart lurch for her younger sister's pain.

Gretchen, with long-developed sensitivity to her mistress body language and moods, immediately swept Cattleya off her feet, and carried her into the bedroom.

"I saw you yesterday while you were sleeping," Cattleya said firmly as she pushed the door open and Gretchen carried her to the pinkette's bed.

Louise, her face screwing up in pain as she did so, began trying to pull her blankets up over her head, her enlarged and misshapen arm making the task as difficult as it was painful. Siesta, who was seated beside Louise on the bed, swiftly, but gently, pushed Louise's arm aside, and moved the blanket herself. It was not hard for Cattleya to read that she did not wish to do so, but knew her mistress would not stop attempting the task herself if she did not.

"Louise," Cattleya said sadly, "You don't need to hide from me."

Louise said nothing, but turned her head away beneath the covers. This had the effect of drawing attention to how abnormally long and robust her neck had become, but that only distracted Cattleya for a moment.

"Gretchen," She said, turning to gesture towards Siesta, "Could you please show Siesta around the castle, and introduce her to the family retainers she will most need to work with?"

"Yes, Miss Cattleya," Gretchen said, turning to smile at Siesta, who was looking worriedly between Cattleya and Louise's covered form, "Don't worry, Miss Cattleya can take care of her sister."

Siesta waited for a few seconds to see if Louise would say anything, but as she didn't object, the maid from Tarbes allowed herself to be lead out of Louise's chambers.

"Louise," Cattleya said gently once they were alone, "I came by to visit last night, I have already seen what has happened to your body."

Louise still said nothing, and Cattleya sighed. Moving slowly, as she always did, Cattleya gently pulled back the edge of Louise's blankets, and slipped underneath them herself. It was quite warm beneath them, as Louise's inhumanly massive body generated a great deal of heat. Cattleya was careful as she moved beneath the blankets, but then Cattleya was _always_ careful in how she moved. Still, it took only a few moments for her to mover to her sister's side and wrap her upper body in a cautious hug.

No words passed between them for the rest of the night, but eventually, Louise turned to bury her head against Cattleya's side, and cried herself to sleep in her elder sister's arms for the first time in years.

The next morning, Louise would give Cattleya her halting account of what had happened, before eating a massive meal, and falling into sleep again as her body exhausted itself in growth.

((()))

Karin Valliere was not noted for being very convincible once her mind was made up, especially in matters regarding her daughters, or in this case, her daughter's familiar. Over the next week, her men were gradually able to remove the rest of the Dragon's armor, though it took them an entire day to work the helmet free. Beneath the armor, the Dragon had deep brown fur with fiery red markings patterned across its entire body. Cattleya and Gretchen spent a considerable amount of time measuring the Dragon's proportions, and testing the range of motion on its joints.

Once the initial measurements had been completed, Cattleya enlisted the help of two of the castle's healers for internal study of the Dragon's anatomy. It was something Cattleya did mostly because she knew her mother would have ordered it if she hadn't, and _everyone_ in the employ of the Valliere family knew not to be cruel to animals around her. Or anything else.

The first thing they discovered was that the Dragon had strong affinities to all four elements, strong to the point where any constant-effect spell that attempted to penetrate his body would very rapidly be drained to fill his own magical reserves. It turned out that it had not been the creature's armor, but the Dragon itself that had made using sleep spells on it such an ordeal for the healer who had kept it unconscious during the journey to the Valliere estate. Cattleya _very_ much wished that this had not been the case, as it meant that diagnostic spells would not be a viable method for understanding the internal workings of the creature's body.

Instead, it meant knife-work and healing spells, something Cattleya would _never_ have consented to if she hadn't known her mother would have forced the issue under someone else's direction if she didn't. If the Dragon's magic-absorbant property had also rendered it immune to healing spells, rather than just made them less effective, she would have stood between the Dragon and the knife herself, though she knew it would have done no good. Her mother was an unparalleled master of the Wind element and had proved more than willing, more than once, to manipulate her daughters physically with it to enforce her will.

Once they had opened the Dragon up, she, as she had expected, found that the major muscle groups in its limbs and abdomen by and large corresponded to those of other six-limbed Dragons. The musclulature of its torso, neck, and head, on the other hand, were substantially different. Its jaw had an unusual set of muscles that, as best she could tell, was intended to open the jaw with great speed and force. The muscles along its long, robust neck, were wrapped around small air sacks that reminded her of the air-pouches in a bird's chest used to enhance the duration of air flow through its lungs, except they were not connected to the Dragon's lungs. The neck muscle arrangement also seemed configured to more effectively regurgitate material, rather than swallow it, though she knew in order to eat it _had_ to be capable of both.

It was in and around the thoracic cavity that the _true_ reason for the unusual muscle structure became clear. The junction at the base of the Dragon's trachea extended branches not only into its two lungs, but also into several other organs. Two of them secreted and stored a viscous liquid that ignited upon contact with air; a discovery which nearly burned Cattleya's hands, and also revealed that the Dragon was utterly immune to injury from fire or heat. An escalating series of experiments with branding irons had confirmed this.

After the two identical fire-organs, they found what Cattleya would have taken to be a craw, save that it was attached to the Dragon's cardiovascular, rather than gastrointestinal system. In it, she found a few pebbles and rock-dust mixed in with a secretion that seemed to serve no purpose except lubrication, which she expected was intended to allow stones to be ejected with greater ease. The final organ was simply an extremely muscular pouch, filled with water. Cattleya suspected it was the physical element of a fourth breath weapon, one which had not seen use in the Dragon's fight against her mother.

The final major difference between the outlander Dragon Louise had summoned, and currently known Dragon species, was the massively overdeveloped musculature involved in breathing. While the diaphragm was perhaps twice as developed as on more well-known Dragons of similar size, the muscles around its rib cage were insanely overdeveloped, and a muscle-valve at the join between Trachea and lung was most probably present to allow for the pressurization of the lungs.

On the whole, the entire array of organs related to breath weapons was unique, as every known species of Dragon in Halkeginia simply relied upon an outright magical organ to create its breathe effects, and perhaps exhalation to expel it. It took them six days to learn all of these things about the Dragon's physiology, at the end of which Cattleya reported it all to her mother, and then she, and the exhausted healers, all went to rest for a day.

While Cattleya spent the first week after they removed the armor studying the Dragon himself, Karin was more interested in the armor. It was literally the most complicated piece of metalcraft she had ever seen, and that was only the beginning of it. It was multi-layered, the metal comprising only the outermost and second outermost layers, with successive internal layers made out of a variety of materials she was not familiar with. The outer layers of plate alone were incredibly intricate; interlocking and overlapping plates of quite thin metal, they provided near total protection without impeding mobility in the least. The plates were also not made out of any metal her smiths were familiar with, as despite being unusually thin for armor, they were utterly impervious to damage. The plates were also engraved with extensive runes of a language none of them knew.

The next layer beneath the plate was crafted of some form of gelatinous substance sheathed in an extremely malleable elastic material. It reacted strangely to impacts, becoming partially rigid when struck with sufficient force, by no means which Karin or her family's enchanters could recognize. Karin could readily see its utility for spreading the damage inflicted by blunt weapons and large-scale impacts, especially when combined with the apparent-indestructibility of the outer plate layer. This layer was also inlaid with tiny runes, shaped from metal wire and somehow bonded with the sheath and gelatin both.

The innermost layer was a fibrous sheath that any experienced eye would readily be able to recognize as strongly resembling human muscle in form. It, like the other layers, was inlaid with runes, and had been connected directly to several portions of the outer plate. Extensive experimentation had revealed that while it, and the gel layer, were very malleable, they were just as impossible to actually damage or destroy as the plate layer. Testing had also revealed that the false-muscle bundles responded to electrical shocks by contracting, which was enough for Karin to conclude that it served exactly the function it appeared to, additional muscle for additional strength.

It was also the innermost layer that had featured the strangest feature of the entire suit of armor, a small metallic protrusion which had been connected to a port in the back of the Dragon's skull. Karin made an educated guess that this allowed the Dragon to control the extra muscles, and had something to do with the helmet.

The helmet, Karin still did not understand. Like every other part of the armor, it was fitted to the head with exacting precision, though the plate layer was vastly simpler, due to the rigid nature of a Dragon, or for that matter, any creature's skull. What was overlaid over the interior of the visors that shielded the eyes that bewildered every single person who had a look at it. Words and characters in a language unknown in Halkeginia were writ across the interior of the visors in glowing letters, the majority of them identical on both eyes, some few things differing between the two. A few of the characters were numbers, apparently the only element of the Dragon Knight's language that was shared with the written language of Halkeginia. What was particularly significant, however, was that the glowing overlay changed depending on what, or _who_, was in front of it. Any time Karin stood in front of it, she was outlined in red; any time an exposed weapon was held in front of it, the weapon was outlined in yellow.

When the helmet had been taken to Louise's room, it had outlined both Siesta and Louise in blue, and appended a string of characters to the outlines. One of the sets of characters was a set of numbers, which increased or decreased with the distance between the helmet and the person it was tracking.

Taken all together, Karin found it to be an ill omen the sheer degree of utility wrapped up in the Dragon's armor, especially considering that she, her husband, her daughter, and all of the mages employed at the Valliere estates could not make heads or tails of how the armor's enchantments had such effects. The augmentation to combat ability the various layers combined to lend, combined with both the known and unknown capacities of the helmet's display, were a powerful package. Karin found it particularly foreboding that anyone would think a _Dragon_ would have sufficient need for an enhancement to its strength that it would justify whatever insane amount of cost involved in that layer of the armor's construction.

Karin was seriously considering asking the Queen's royal enchanters to have a look at the armor, but was uncertain she wanted to deal with the questions it would lead to, especially considering the Princess' relationship with Louise. Louise herself, was spending most of her time unconscious, and most of the time she was not unconscious eating copious quantities of food, literally enough for a score of men, as her body continued to increase in size and density.

Her thoughts on that particular issue were rendered moot when the Princess, apparently having heard of her friend's illness decided to visit of her own volition.

((()))

End Chapter 4.

((()))

AN: for those wondering, this is a crossover with the original work of someone I know; it's had some personal distribution to a variety of people he knows around the world, but isn't published. I carefully omitted any direct names purely proprietary to the world.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: I've fixed the name-mistake from previous chapters. Apparently, there were three points in Chapter 3 where I called Joshua by the wrong name. Then, when I went back to working on this after my time on Cameron's Legacy, I had forgotten the name, and stumbled across the only three times I got it wrong.

As to confusion about my AN in last chapter about changing the terms slightly with the crossover material, that wasn't referring to my mistakenly calling Joshua Jason, that was referring to the fact that it could (very vaguely) be legally argued that if something from that world's creative work is posted on before it's published, it becomes public domain, and can no longer be published commercially. The slight term/name shifting is to prevent that from happening.

Chapter 5.

((()))

When Siesta saw what had been done to Joshua, she was horrified. When she saw Cattleya, her body half within the Dragon's chest, and covered with his blood, she fled screaming from the stables. She had heard that Cattleya was fascinated with animals of all sorts from the castle servants, but had no idea that they had meant _this_ kind of fascination.

She fled through the castle, tear-filled eyes and panic degrading her already-limited understanding of its layout to the point where within three turns, she was utterly lost. Still, she ran, her thoughts in panicked disarray as she made random snap decisions every time she came to a junction in the castle hallways, or ran into an entrance or exit to the various layers and outbuildings of the castle. Her panicked flight eventually ended in a secluded corner of a wash room, where she more or less curled into a ball, crying and shivering in fear, bloody images of Joshua's sliced-open chest-cavity replaying in her mind.

It took more than an hour for Gretchen to find her, and when she approached Siesta, the girl flinched away, instinctively trying to shrink herself into a smaller, less noticeable ball.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Gretchen said, "But not as sorry as Cattleya is that she had to _do_ that."

Siesta said nothing, remaining wrapped in a tight ball, face buried in her knees. Gretchen sighed, and dragged a wheeled cart into the laundry room.

"You can't hide in here forever," Gretchen said patiently.

Siesta made no response. Shrugging, Gretchen wrapped her stout arms around Siesta, and hauled her onto the laundry cart. She then trundled the laundry cart off towards Cattleya's menagerie.

((()))

The menagerie was startling enough that it broke Siesta out of her terror-induced stupor; the soft birdsong in particular grabbing her attention. She uncurled enough to raise her head and look at the insulated wooden structure Gretchen had just wheeled her into.

It was a large, cluttered space, with a low wooden ceiling, filled with small house-like structures, cubbyholes, and perches, with straw littered about the floor and in many of the cubbyholes and houses. Dozens of animals occupied the various spaces, as well as loitering about the floor or on the occasional stool, table, or chair. She had become the center of attention to many of the animals when she was wheeled in, and she shied slightly away from a large canine that she was not certain was a wolf or a dog.

There were chipmunks, squirrels, swallows, finches, doves, what she thought was a mole, a beaver, a variety of dogs, a fox, a few mice, and many, _many_ cats. How the manager of this menagerie had managed to keep the predator and prey animals from killing or fleeing from each other, she had no idea.

Then a dappled gray kitten crawled up into her lap and blinked at her, and part of Siesta's heart melted. She reached out with shaking hands, and picked the kitten up, holding it against her chest, and burying her face against its small form as the tears began anew. The kitten made the rumbling, rowling sound that some kittens did before they developed the ability to purr properly, and rubbed itself against her face.

"Her name is Ashara."

Siesta jumped as she heard Cattleya's soft voice, raising her head swiftly to see the pink-haired woman being carried into the room carefully by Gretchen.

"The kitten," Cattleya clarified, "Is named Ashara."

Siesta shied away from Cattleya as Gretchen carried her closer.

"This," Cattleya continued, carefully laying a cat on the laundry cart Siesta still sat on, "Is Izara, her mother."

The cat was a largish tabby, with sleek, well-groomed solid gray fur, and expressive eyes. It also was missing a fair chunk of both of its front legs, hinged wooden limbs emulating the missing flesh and blood.

"She was found by one of the castle children in the forest," Cattleya said softly, "Her legs were crushed, and gangrene had set in. I suspect a running deer stepped on her legs, or something similar, but I am not sure. I had to amputate her legs in order to save her life."

Siesta shivered at the word 'amputate.' Amputation was all too often the answer to heavily injured limbs for commoners.

"There was blood then, as well," Cattleya said, "Nowhere near as much blood as with your Knight, but my hands were still soaked. There is no one within the castle who has more sure hands than I, so I took the surgery with the Dragon upon myself, to ensure it would be done properly"

Siesta gazed at Cattleya, hope warring with fear in her eyes.

"Mister N'bara was injured?" She asked tentatively.

"No," Cattleya said, bitterness rising in her face and voice, "That was entirely my mother's command. If he had not been so resistant to magic, we could simply have used diagnostic spells, but as it is, we had to physically inspect his insides to learn what my mother wished to know."

"…What?" Siesta said, her voice full of confusion and fear.

Cattleya sighed, and calmed herself before speaking again.

"My mother," Cattleya said, "Has determined that the Dragon is simply a rebellious familiar. A very _powerful_ rebellious familiar, as he nearly bested her in a duel. Mother decided that it was necessary to learn as much about him as possible. Eventually, that resulted in what you saw earlier today."

Siesta shivered and looked down, distracting herself for a few moments with the kitten she still held to her chest.

"I will understand if you no longer trust me," Cattleya said eventually, "But even if you will still blame me, please remember that the Dragon's treatment is ultimately at the responsibility and order of my mother."

((()))

The day that the message from the capital warning of the Princess' impending visit arrived, Karin began to make preparations. The primary portion of her preparations consisted of conscripting the earth mages amongst her family's retainers to construct, and enchant, a small stone bunker in the outer courtyard, sized to house the Dragon. She then enchanted it against wind magics herself, and had another set of retainers enchant against fire. Finally, more as a matter of paranoia than anything else, and a niggling suspicion that the water-organ her daughter had discovered in the Dragon's breathing passages signified something, she had it warded with water magic as well.

All of these enchantments were simple and direct in purpose: to keep any magic passing from one side of the bunker's walls to the other. She did not want the Dragon reclaiming its sword through whatever conjurative magic it had used before. Once the enchantments were complete, she personally levitated the Dragon from the stables to the new outbuilding, and finally allowed the family healers to lift the sleep spell from the Dragon. The last precaution she took, was having the entrance of the bunker shrunk by her earth mages, so that it would be too small for a Dragon to pass through.

Then, she had a servant fetch a chair for her, and waited for the Dragon to wake. It did not take long, which did not surprise Karin as the Dragon had been unconscious for more than two weeks now. Karin believed that a great deal could be learned about a soldier by observing the manner in which they awoke; swift to move and act, cautious and observing before moving, or anywhere between the two.

When the Dragon awoke, its eyes snapped abruptly to full openness, but it made no other move. Its eyes immediately went to her, and it studied her warily for a long moment, before closing its eyes. A pulse of _something_ washed off of the Dragon, something that made Karin's instincts scream. Her eyes narrowed as she tightened her grip on her wand.

"What did you do?" She demanded.

The Dragon responded by lashing out at her with one of its claws, but was blocked by a near-instantaneous shield on Karin's part. She retaliated with a powerful bludgeoning spell, which the Dragon could not avoid in the enclosed space, and slammed him back into the wall.

"That was foolish," She said harshly, and opened her mouth to continue, but cut herself off as the Dragon's entire body began to glow.

Its entire form fluoresced, and even squinting, Karin could see nothing more of it than a glowing outline. An outline which abruptly shrank, and condensed into the form of a man, after which the glow steadily receded until a naked man stood before Karin, staring at her. Karin was uncertain, but thought she may have seen geometric shapes along the surface of his skin glowing slightly longer than the rest of him.

"Are you really so eager to see death?" He asked, his voice quiet, and full of what Karin thought of as the 'Soldier's Sorrow,' the weariness of a soldier who has seen too many deaths.

"I defeated you last time," Karin said, "And now your armor and weapon have been stripped from you. What makes you think you could best me this time?"

Joshua's hand flexed, moving as though to grasp something that was not there. Unlike the last time Karin had seen him make the gesture, his sword did not appear within his hand.

"The magic of this world is impressive," He said, staring at his empty hand in consideration, "Barring me from soul-bound items is impossible by the magic of my world," He paused for a moment, raising his gaze to stare at her again, "I do not know who will die in here," He said, "But one way or the other, you will see death."

And he attacked her again, charging at her buck naked and bare-handed. Karin sent another concussive spell at him, one of lesser force proportionate to his reduced form, but Joshua nimbly evaded it, and continued his approach. Karin simply reinforced her shield, and allowed him to crash into it. Joshua had apparently remembered the existence of her shield from their fight the last time he had been conscious, and when she made no obvious move to defend herself, he timed his blow to strike her shield instead.

Karin was more than a little shocked when his fist burst into flame, and actually managed to smash through her shield. Shock did not in any way debilitate her combat ability, however, and she deftly leaned out of the way of his blow. While Joshua's fist and arm had penetrated her shield, the rest of him had not, so she expanded the shield, pushing him away. Joshua responded by jamming the fingers of his other hand into the hole in the shield, and beginning to pry it apart.

Runes across his skin had begun to glow, pulsing with fiery reds, brilliant blues, and an earthy brown. Karin cast a spell that pressed a simple broad wall of air out from her. Caught partway through her shield, Joshua was unable to evade the spell, and was knocked back across the room to smash into the wall of the bunker. Karin maintained the spell, pressing him against the wall to immobilize him.

"Why do you do this?" She demanded, "Without your equipment, in this enclosed space, you are no match for me."

"We are at war," Joshua said, matter-of-factly, flashes of power from his hands colliding with the wall of air Karin was pressing against him, "And you are probably the most powerful warrior in Tristania. This makes you a priority target."

Karin felt disbelief rise within her at the words.

"You still attempt to persuade me with lies?" Karin said scornfully, and used a small fist of wind as a physical rebuke to his mouth.

"Reality remains what it is," Joshua said, ignoring the fact that his lips _should_ have been bleeding, "Whatever you may think it to be or not be. Simply denying the sun's existence will not keep it from rising the next morning."

Karin rolled her eyes, and sent her first of wind to smash into his face again, but Joshua just laughed softly as she did so, something that surprised Karin. Though they were rare, she had met men who laughed in the face of pain and death, but it was always an aggressive, assertive sound, a thing of defiance. When Joshua laughed at her rebukes, it was a thing of sad bemusement, somehow both defiant and resigned at the same time. This, she had not experienced before.

She attempted to silence him with a few more blows, but the only effect she could discern was that his attempts to break free of her spell slackened while he absorbed the blows. _Probably disrupting his conversation, even if they do him no injury, _Karin decided.

It was time for her to step things up, Karin decided, and instead carefully slashed a cutting spell across the man's chest. It had no noticeable effect, save for further to distracting the nude Knight. Tamping down her frustration, Karin began moving her blade of wind in for progressively deeper and deeper cuts, varying the part of body she attacked.

For her efforts, she managed to stop him from attempting to break free altogether, as he closed his eyes and appeared to enter some sort of meditative state, but had no other apparent effect. After a while, she desisted, and simply watched him. His magic absorptive-properties, apparently still active when he was not a Dragon, had begun to drag at her spells, and something seemed slightly off about him, as though his presence had become more ephemeral.

Moving closer, she inspected him more carefully, examining his body in detail from top to bottom. He had shaggy, shoulder-length hair, which when she had first seen him, was bound over his forehead, and tucked behind his ears. With the simple strap that had bound his hair now gone, she used a small gust of wind to blow his hair aside, and could clearly see his forehead for the first time, revealing a dark runic tattoo. Like the runes that had glowed on his skin when he attacked her, she was unfamiliar with it.

His face, to her surprise, showed no sign of the arrow wound that had been inflicted upon it the last time she had seen him in human form, but she supposed that was not exactly a surprise when it came to shape-shifting magic. To her even greater surprise, his head, neck, chest, arms, and legs, showed no sign of significant scarring, something extremely rare in a soldier with as much combat experience as she knew he must have. There were a few faded white lines, but nothing to indicate deep wounding.

The only other soldier Karin knew of that had so few scars, was herself. Considering the drive and capabilities that the Knight had shown, Karin was not too proud to admit he very likely would have been a match for her, when she was his age. Perhaps more powerful, considering the size and speed of his Dragon form.

She found only one other obvious oddity about his person, a pattern of faintly glowing runes on his left hand. These runes, unlike the others she had seen, did seem familiar to her.

In fact, they seemed to be in the script that _Familiar_ runes appeared.

_Gandalfr,_ they read, after she took a moment to translate them mentally. Something seemed slightly off about them, and why did that particular type of Familiar ring a warning bell in her mind?

Adjusting her wind-wall spell to allow herself access, she carefully reached inward to touch his hand, but as hers neared, she realized that the runes glowed not due to the magic in them, but due to intense _heat_.

Karin's eyes widened, as in a singular moment of clarity, she realized three things.

First, that her daughter's Familiar was, in fact, so defiant because the Familiar runes had yet to properly bind him, his immunity to heat resisting their ability to bind to his flesh.

Second, the Gandalfr was the legendary Left Hand of God, one of _Brimir's_ familiars, which meant her daughter was a _Void Mage_.

Third, the Dragon-Knight had sensed her proximity, and his hand was snapping around to snatch hers.

Karin was fast, _very_ fast, but she was also a woman in her forties, and the he was in the prime of his youth.

Joshua's hand closed around her wrist, and his body began to glow once more.

Karin immediately recognized what he was doing, made a snap decision, and acted.

The hand and wrist Joshua held were cleanly severed from Karin's arm by her own cutting spell, and one of the clones she had concealed outside of the bunker levitated her, and began pulling her out at a brutal pace.

Karin was swept out of the Bunker just as Joshua's transformation completed, and the Dragon roared, lunging after her, attempting to snake his head through the doorway and take a bite out of her.

He was met by four concussive spells from Karin's clones, which knocked him senseless.

Silence reigned in the courtyard for a long moment, broken only by two of the night watchmen calling down from the wall to see if she required aid.

"Send for a healer!" She shouted back up at them as she climbed to her feet, hampered by having a missing hand, and applied a small barrier of wind to the wound on her arm, to block the bleeding.

"Well," Karin said, eying the unconscious Dragon in front of her, and the smear of pulped flesh and blood trailing from one of its foreclaws, "This changes things."

It was time, she decided, to have another conversation with her youngest daughter.

((()))

Louise dreamed. It had begun when after her mother had knocked her familiar unconscious, and _kept_ him unconscious, and in her few waking, lucid moments, it was not hard for her to determine just what it was she dreamed of.

She dreamed of Joshua's life, in a far and distant world, one so utterly alien to her own, it was almost unrecognizeable. She dreamed of his childhood, living aboard an airship that was so massive it never truly landed, instead sending smaller vessels down to the surface to conduct trade with farmers, and cities.

Oh, the _cities_. Massive edifices of synthetic stone and glass, they were formed of sky-scrapers that seemed to Louise as tall as mountains, though Joshua's memories told her otherwise. Some were more than half a mile in height, and almost a quarter mile to a side at the base, and all were full of _people_. _Millions_ of people. More people than in all of Tristania combined, in a single one of the cities she saw in her dreams, and all of them commoners, most effectively wealthier than most of the nobles in any nation of Halkegenia. The wealthier denizens of the first city she saw in her dreams could have literally bought or sold all of Tristania or Albion.

While she was conscious on the journey to her family's estates, she tried to relate what she saw in her Familiar's world of metal, glass, airships and machines. It was hard, because most of the dreams she experienced were memories of things that interested a child, which in Joshua's case were mostly the implements of war, and games simulating them, and the wars of his world were fought in entirely different ways to hers.

As the dream-memories moved forward through his life, however, they began to focus on things that helped her understand and connect his world to hers through similarities much more thoroughly. Shortly after Joshua turned ten, his education began to focus on the fundaments of how a society worked in his world. Louise saw memories of touring a 'farm,' a title for an establishment that seemed far too small to her. It was absolutely massive, measured in thousands of acres, and operated almost entirely by computer-controlled machinery, which tilled the soil, planted the crops, tended the crops, harvested the crops, and then deposited the massive quantities of grain into the custody of other machines for handling.

The only human involvement was in maintenance of the machines, and rotating inspections of the crops to make sure the machines were functioning, and the crops were growing, correctly. Apparently, amongst his people, and most of the nations his people traded with, the only crops tended or handled by hand, rather than machine, were done by people who did so as a hobby. Because of all the automation, food had become so cheap and plentiful that the only time eating had _any_ appreciable cost, was when one paid a person to prepare a meal by hand. Even 'hand-cooked' meals involved automated ovens, cooking enclosures that operated by means she did not understand, and machines for preserving or preparing food by chilling it, rather than cooking it!

And the _kinds_ of food available! Delicacies that were so rare and expensive that even nobles could only occasionally afford them, such as dates, pineapple, or even _chocolate_, were so readily available that commoner parents had to warn their children against spoiling their health by eating too much of it! Other foods that simply took greater care in preparation were also commonplace, glazed pastries, seasoned meats, fruit juices, and even ice cream.

And food was only the beginning. Steel stronger than anything Louise could recall seeing before, was considered a commonplace, basic, and _cheap_ material, only of any substantial worth if it was enchanted. Alloys of more exotic metals and materials she had never heard of before were used for all demanding applications, things like Titanium, Tungsten, Cobalt, Carbide, and many, many others.

Most telling of all, for all the things she had seen up to that point, magic was only used incidentally, if at all. Crops did not require the aid of nobles to grow swiftly or efficiently. Houses were constructed by machines directed by men with schematics and blueprints, rather than nobles shaping the earth itself. The enormous airships were assembled in equally massive shipyards over the course of months, out of pre-shaped parts, joined by a process called welding. While the larger vessels were constructed of enchanted metals, this was a matter of investing in high-durability material, rather than necessity, as it was either machine-engines or massive balloons of gas that caused the vessels to remain airborne.

By the time they reached her family's estates, Louise spent most of the time she was awake in a daze, trying to understand how on earth a world like her Familiar's could have come about, when Halkegenia had remained the same for so long. Fortunately for Louise, she began finding herself in dreams of Joshua learning about the history of his world; this was also when Louise began to suspect that the path her dreams followed through his memory responded to her needs and desires.

The night after Louise had determined she needed to know more of the history of Joshua's world, she found her dreams taking the path of a classroom that was blessedly similar to those she had known, if one ignored the computer interfaces built into the desks. The history lesson she was 'sitting in on' through Joshua's memory, and the many following it, described the development of society from what was described as 'feudal/medieval,' through 'industrial revolution' and 'information age,' to what was referred to as 'space age.'

'Feudal/medieval,' she learned, had been when Joshua's world had been much like her own, with nobles ruling over commoners, and royalty ruling over nobles in turn. According to both the teacher, and the text, the determining factor in the evolution of society, had been the gradual innovations of creative thinkers, developing metalworking and architecture gradually into crude machinery and automation. Eventually, this had led to the development of 'science,' a term encompassing many disciplines of study of the natural world, based on the fundament that a rational Creator would create a world that functioned in a rational way.

Once this practice was established, society exploded in advancement, as systematic study led to a better understanding of the natural world, allowing for more efficient farming, food preparation, food storage, food preservation, construction, tool-making, medicine, and war-waging. As the greater efficiency of first simple, and then increasingly complicated machines made gaining the basic necessities of life less demanding upon the work force, more time and effort was made available for people's own pastimes and pursuits.

Inevitably a portion of these pursuits were inventive, and bore fruit, further advancing the rate of technological development. Change in the fundamental way life was lived caused conflict within societies, and more than one war was ignited by the change to the status quo. Louise did not entirely understand how or why such things happened, but could understand the consequences, as tales of commoner classes gaining more and more power, then rising up against the nobility were recounted. In some nations they failed, in some they succeeded, but technology and the balance of power throughout the world continued to change.

The shift to the industrial age was a somewhat arbitrary time period historically, but it was oriented around the social shift towards city-based living, as factories began to consume more and more of the workforce. Steam power developing into a mature field was also key to the industrial age, allowing substantial use of energy not provided by muscle, which had absolute limits. To Louise's considerable surprise, while the Feudal/Medieval age had lasted more than two thousand years, the industrial age lasted less than two hundred.

With the advent of firearms, and the progressive improvement of both personal and wheeled guns, war became progressively more and more brutal, entire nations being created and destroyed within weeks. One nation, the 'Zefier's Republic,' specifically held up as an example had literally only lasted weeks before it had been torn apart by civil war, then absorbed by its neighbours.

What particularly shocked Louise, was what happened next in the lesson. The teacher, an attractive woman Louise guessed to be in her mid or late twenties, redirected the class to a discussion of _why_ various nations had come to rise or fall, and in that, for the first time, Joshua's memories contained clear words, rather than remembered meanings.

"Now class," The woman said, "The Zefier's Republic was a particularly dramatic example, so I will use it to make an important point. Why did the Republic fall apart?"

"Because it lacked a single strong leader," One of the boys in the class said decisively.

"That played a part," The woman said, "But was not the underlying cause. Anybody else."

"The people of Zefier province had been fighting for independence from Argla ever since it absorbed Zefier along with the rest of Trey," A girl said more hesitantly, "Maybe because after bucking for independence for fifty years, they didn't know what to do with it once they had it?"

"That's a bit closer," The teacher said, nodding encouragingly, "But still not it."

"You're looking for something more fundamental, aren't you?" Joshua said, which was jarring to Louise, because in the dream, she could feel _her_self speaking with _his_ voice.

"Yes, Joshua, I am," The teacher said, smiling at him.

Through the dream, Louise could _feel_ the strain as Joshua attempted to figure out what answer his teacher was looking for, though his internal thoughts themselves were not a part of the memory-dream.

"It's because of what the people of Zefier did to themselves," Joshua finally said, "Trey was conquered by Argla because their society became weak in their affluence and wealth, and lost the strength to fight. The people of Zefier, at least the portion of the population with the gumption to _do_ something, spent so long working themselves into fanaticism to break free of their conquerors, that long the way, they discarded almost everything else that defined them. They sacrificed their chance at prosperity under new rule to resist, their own lives to hurt the enemy, the lives of their children by indoctrinating them to hate, and by the time their children's children broke free, nobody knew anything anymore except how to fight, because they hadn't bothered to decide what they were fighting _for_."

"That's the core of it," The teacher said, nodding and smiling again, "Every great nation that has failed, has always failed not because of enemies out, but because of decay within. A society with a strong warrior tradition can be powerful locally, but will lack the ability to project, or survive a protracted war. A society with a strong merchant tradition can be wealthy, and field an army with quality equipment and training, but will rarely do so in time to effectively protect themselves, because their greed will keep them from having such an army always at the ready."

She paused, and carefully met the eyes of all six members of her class before continuing.

"No matter what other strengths or weaknesses a nation has," She said seriously, "If it has no unifying moral ethos, it will fail. If there is no demand for honesty, the leaders will become deceitful and corrupt. If there is no fidelity, marriages will crumble, and children will grow up emotionally scarred and belligerent. If there is no humility, petty men will destroy the nation from within, and its reputation without. If there is abrogation of responsibility, its institutions of law will crumble. If greed runs rampant, the economy will fail. This is why every nation has eventually fallen, and the only people groups that endure for truly long periods are nomads, and even amongst nomads such as ourselves, individual groups will fail. Any people that allows too much moral decay for too long, will reap the consequences."

The more distinct part of the memory ended with Joshua meeting the teacher's very, very serious eyes. Louise woke from her dream after that, her movement drawing Siesta's attention, who immediately set about getting as much food and drink into her as possible.

Before being taken back to her family's estates, Louise had come to rely on Siesta, both physically, and emotionally. Since her private conversation with Cattleya the day after she arrived, she had not spent a single conscious moment, where Siesta had not been tending to her needs. Of course, she was awake perhaps two hours in a day, and not all at once, as her body's exceedingly rapid growth and mass gain exhausted her physically, but her sleep patterns were not regular, and the fact that Siesta was _always_ there, just endeared her to the girl even more.

Any one of Louise's limbs was now larger than the entirety of her body had been before, and the main mass of her body was embarrassingly huge. Also, she appeared to no longer have breasts, though as best she could tell through her fur, she still had nipples. She supposed that what she was turning into _was_ a mammal, after all. Her neck was continuing to grow longer, and even though she continued to follow Joshua's instructions regarding circulating her magic everywhere except for her head, she could feel how her head was changing too, her skull beginning to elongate, and her teeth growing and changing shape into something more appropriate to a super-predator.

On the whole, she felt absolutely grotesque. Siesta, however, never once looked at her in revulsion or fear, and even took the time to brush her hair for her every day. Somehow, that act helped her feel like she was still human, despite the state of her body. Cattleya had taken to leaving her letters, as her visits never seemed to be at quite the right time to catch her awake, and reading simple messages of companionship in her sister's flowing handwriting helped.

Still, the dreams were preferable to being trapped within her own body while she was awake, so she made no effort to resist the near-omnipresent fatigue that continually dragged her to slumber. As she fell into dreams again, her impromptu course in the history of Joshua's world continued.

It was in the class that covered the transition between the industrial and information ages, that Louise finally came to understand what a computer was. Apparently, someone had discovered a method to use electrical currents and states flowing through or in metal circuits to calculate mathematical formula for her. Shortly after her invention, a man had realized that these circuits held more potential than for simple mathematics, and begun to develop more and more complex circuits and operations for them to perform.

This, combined with the progression of the telegraph into the telephone (as well as the development of the radio), and the invention of 'moving pictures,' something Louise thought was ingenious, all came together to create the fulcrum of the information age.

When all of these things came together to form the 'Personal Computer,' and continued innovation made the devices cheap enough for them to become a standard household item. This combined with an experimental project that had linked computers via hard-line connections to share information (which was called 'data' when stored on a computer), and created the 'World Wide Web.'

This web of information exploded in size and capacity, and combined with computers allowing ever-increasing automation, shifted the amount of workforce involved in procuring the essentials of life from the majority of the workforce, to perhaps a tenth of it. Joshua's history class went into considerable detail about the process, detailing how advancements made only in certain parts of the world during the industrial age rapidly proliferated throughout the rest of it during the information age. Over the course of a mere two _decades_ the 'Internet' as it had also become known, became available in every part of the world.

It was during this time that magic entered the world. That revelation was so startling that Louise broke from her dreams, startling awake.

If magic had not existed amongst Joshua's people before then, how had their been nobles?

((()))

"This simply will not do!" Kirche said fiercely, "I don't care if she _is_ the Heavy Wind, I will not leave Darling in the hands of _that woman_!"

Tabitha said nothing, though she did look up from her book for a moment, which for her was practically screaming her interest in the matter. The only thing that could possibly have conveyed interest, would be if she had actually _spoken_. Kirche was currently pacing about the messy clearing they occupied, while Tabitha lay back against Slyphid's side. It was no coincidence that the clearing they occupied was the same which had hosted the end of Karin and Joshua's battle weeks before.

"I picked up word from the castle staff," Kirche continued, turning her back on Tabitha and her familiar as she continued pacing about the clearing, "That Princess Henrietta will be going to visit the Valliere estates. I don't know _why_, but I'm sure we can use that _somehow_, I'm just not sure _how_."

"Princess?" Tabitha said in surprise after a moment, looking up from her book again.

"Yes," Kirche said, turning to look at her tiny friend, "Princess Henrietta."

Tabitha stared at Kirche for a few moments before nodding slightly, and pointing to herself.

"Get us in," She said, then turned back to her book.

"When?" Kirche asked.

"Princess," Tabitha said without looking up from her book, and Kirche nodded.

"We'll have to leave tomorrow," Kirche said, "Unless we're flying all the way there on Slyphid."

Tabitha just nodded, and Kirche decided that would have to satisfy her for now.

((()))

The next time Louise awoke, her mother was in her room, seated beside her bed, reading. Louise was not surprised when Karin noticed her waking up almost immediately, and set her book aside.

"Good morning Louise," Karin said cordially, "It has been some time since I have seen you while you were conscious. How do you feel?"

"Tired," Louise said, her voice a low rumble at this point in her transformation, sounding, and feeling, somewhat raw around the edges.

"Understandable," Karin said, "The healers tell me you have gained nearly a ton of weight since they first inspected you."

Louise scowled. If she had not _already_ felt too large, she certainly felt fat _now_.

"Don't worry," Karin said, "I believe I have discovered part of what is causing your unfortunate transformation."

Louise said nothing, wanting to tell her mother that she had already explained the cause of her transformation, but knew that if her mother had not believed that Joshua was telling the truth, she would not now.

"I spoke with your familiar earlier this evening," Karin said, raising her arms, and revealing that one of her hands was missing, "He was almost as uncooperative as last time."

Part of Louise was horrified at her mother's injury, part of her was fiercely proud that her Familiar still fought against her mother, and fought well. Most of her despaired of anyone _ever_ being able to effectively defy her mother.

"I did, however, gain some insight into him," Karin continued, "There are familiar runes on the back of his left, hand, that failed to burn themselves into the skin properly, almost certainly due to his immunity to damage from heat. I suspect that it is the incomplete formation of the Familiar Bond that has allowed him to be so rebellious."

Louise again said nothing, as it was clear her mother was not finished speaking.

"Of more import, however," She continued, gaze boring into Louise in a manner she was excessively familiar with, "Is the nature of the Familiar Runes that mark his hand. Once the bonding is complete, he will be the Gandalfr, the Left Hand of God."

Louise still said nothing.

"I suppose that has not been covered in your studies," Karin said with a faint not of disappointment, and if it wouldn't have hurt terribly to do so, Louise would have cringed.

"The Gandalfr is a type of familiar that has been seen only once," Karin said, "It was one of Founder Brimir's familiar. Louise, you are a Void Mage."

Karin was clearly finished speaking, but Louise still said nothing, this time out of shock. A long silence passed between mother and daughter as Louise struggled to wrap her mind around her mother's revelation, taking some time to bring herself to face the most basic aspect of what it meant.

"The reason then," Louise said, strain evident in her deepened voice, "That all my spells have failed."

"Because you were never taught how to appropriately use your element," Karin said firmly, "It lines up perfectly with your success in casting the Familiar Summoning and Binding spells, as they are the only spells we know for certain that the Founder used, as well as his followers. Your inability to cast spells based upon other elements is no fault of your own."

To Louise's shame, she began to cry. They were silent tears, and wary of aggravating the constant ache that permeated her body, she did not move, but they were still tears. Tears of relief, as the unending string of failures at every form of magic she had attempted since the first time she held a wand, the failures that had defined her existence, that had given her the name of 'zero,' suddenly were no longer her fault.

Aware of her mother's presence, Louise desperately tried to control her tears, but could not find the strength within herself to do so.

"Louise," Karin said firmly, and ingrained instincts of obedience caused her to meet her mother's steady gaze, even through her tears, "You are my daughter, and I love you. I will protect you, whether the healers can cure this condition of yours or not."

And then Karin climbed into her daughter's bed, and embraced as much of Louise's enlarged body as she could, heedless of her own missing hand, heedless of her daughter's twisted shape and the guttural sobs beginning to rise in her throat. That night, for the first time since she was six years old, Louise cried herself to sleep in her mother's arms.

((()))

Joshua dreamed. He had heard some with magical bonds dreamed of each other's lives, and had carefully timed his sleep schedule to avoid such things. When he fell into the hands of the Heavy Wind, however, he lost control of that aspect of his life. He dreamed of Louise's childhood, the memories that wafted through his dreams a chaotic mixture of events that, as best he could tell, were sorted only by emotional significance.

Louise had been happy as a young child, gaining both the benefits and the drawbacks of being the youngest sibling, favored with attention, but at the lowest end of the pecking order. Up until the age of six, there was little to impinge upon her happiness, save concern over her elder sister's sickness. The commoners that staffed the castle and worked the Valliere estates treated her with respect and affection, quite happy with the prosperity they enjoyed under the Valliere's unusually fair rule, and willing to express their gratitude to the youngest Valliere as she ran about the castle in the manner of all small children.

Considering the sharp rivalry for social standing he had encountered at the Tristain Academy, Joshua was more than a little surprised at the sheer number of memories he encountered that involved the Princess of Tristain herself. Apparently, Louise had been selected to be a playmate of the Princess when they were both barely more than infants, as the Valliere family had an unbroken tradition of loyalty to the crown stretching back for centuries. Joshua suspected that any other student at the academy would have made use of their status as a personal friend of the Heir to the Throne as a way of building social status with the student body. Most of their time together had been spent at the palace in the Capital, but some quantity had also been spent on the Valliere estates, and transit between the two had been arranged via flights with the Royal Griffon Knights, the Royal family's personal military unit.

Everything began to change once Louise reached her sixth year, and magical training began. It very quickly became apparent that every single spell Louise attempted to cast, would result in either nothing, or as became increasingly common over time until there was no other result, an explosion. It frankly bewildered Joshua that _no one _saw the potential military applications of her spells, especially her mother, as she was a fearsome warrior herself. He understood that there was immense social stigma with being magically inept in a peerage where magical ability defined nobility, but as time passed and some of her explosions became truly impressive, it should have been obvious that she was _not_ short on power.

The ignorance of Halkegenian nobility aside, social stigma set in, and it wrecked havoc on Louise's life. Her once-liberal free time was rapidly consumed with an endless progression of tutors, all of whom inevitably declared Louise hopelessly incompetent and were promptly fired by either the Duke or Duchess, whichever was closer at hand. Louise's memories did not contain such things, but Joshua could easily imagine the disgruntled tutors vindictively spreading word of the girl's lack of magical ability throughout Tristania, and later, as the Valliere family went further to search for tutors, Halkegenia as a whole.

Her time spent with the Princess was gradually curtailed, until it stopped altogether when she was ten years old. What few casual relationships she had with the children of other noble families died even more quickly, and as the constant academic demand wore her out and soured her temperament, her relations with the various commoners about the family castle and estates became more distant and cool. Through it all, her father was a near-nonexistent figure, as he spent his time either managing the family estates, or, more often, away on business. Her mother, on the other hand, was a figure of ever-increasing demand. The only consistent figure of compassion and support in her life was her elder sister, Cattleya, someone about whom Louise constantly worried herself, on account of the girl's sickness.

Joshua's mind existed as a jumble of conscious and subconscious as he experienced the memory-dreams, his trains of thought and overall mentality nowhere near as coherent as while he was conscious. Even in such a jumbled state, however, he _burned_ with anger at what he saw of Louise's parents. Considering what he had seen of the 'nobility' of Halkegenia at the Tristain Academy, the Valliere's were shockingly just and good rulers, treating their vassals as valued subordinates, rather than slaves or property, but they were _clearly_ incompetent in their handling of their children.

The children of his people lived or died during their adolescence based upon two things, their emotional control, and the strength of their desire to live. Joshua was not so angry to miss that the Valliere's were not _deliberately_ malignant towards their children, but the sharp lack of warmth and affection, and extreme demand exhibited by Karin, were incredibly destructive. Louise hurled herself into her studies with a vengeance throughout the rest of her life, up to and including the scattered memories of her life at the academy that Joshua experienced, that frankly shocked him. He doubted many of the tutors or teachers that had taught her had as comprehensive an understanding of the magic system used in Halkegenia that she did, regardless of age.

The principle reason for her fanatical study of magic, was that due to her mother's never-ceasing demands for improvement on her part, her sense of worth had become tied to her magical ability. Quite simply, Louis subconsciously began to orient her self-worth around four things; her mother's regard for her, her sister's regard for her, her ability to perform magic, and her ability to behave honorably as a noble ought, by the standards her mother and father taught through example.

Joshua knew that _any_ conditional standard of self-worth was prone to disastrous consequences for whoever held it, but in Louise's case, her inability to control her magic, despite trying _literally_ ever recorded method of doing so in Tristania, and many from other kingdoms, doomed her. It meant that two of the four standards she measured her worth by measured at, as her classmates had so cruelly named her, zero.

Joshua's anger burned adrenaline into his sleeping body, and the longer he dreamed, the more difficult it became for the Valliere family's healers to keep him unconscious. Joshua wished to _act_, and he would _not_ be denied.

((()))

When Princess Henrietta arrived at the Valliere estates, there was, of course, much pomp and circumstance, as befitting the premier noble family of Tristania greeting the heir to Tristania's throne. Henrietta was every bit as gracious as her reputation held her to be, and the Duchess was the precisely welcoming host, in her husband's continued absence on business. And once the formalities were completed, the Princess wished to see Louise _immediately_.

Karin Valliere had a distinct, essentially omnipresent body language. She _always_ carried herself in a way that suggested that she was at war with the world, had never suffered a defeat, and did not intend to suffer one any time soon, so it was best to be out of her way. Most people would be too caught up in this dominant aspect of her personality and body language to read the undercurrents.

Princess Henrietta was not 'most people.' Throughout the greeting formalities, she had observed that Karin Valliere deferred, to her, something that surprised her, as the Heavy Wind's reputation did not record her _deferring _to anyone, though she followed orders. Once the formalities were done with, and she had asked to see Louise, Karin had shown a discomfort at taking her to see the youngest Valliere, but absolutely no intention of attempting to resist.

All of these attitudes were momentary undercurrents, that Henrietta knew she would have missed if she had not been paying more attention to Karin's demeanor, than her actual words. Each undercurrent lasted only a moment, before disappearing beneath the overwhelming dominance of Karin's decisive personality. _That_ was much more in keeping with the woman's reputation.

Henrietta had heard that her old friend Louise had a magical body-warping illness. When she came to Louise's quarters, and _saw_ the…

…Henrietta did not have words for what Louise's body had become.

((()))

Louise's dreams finished their sojourn through Joshua's education in the history of his world. The teacher spent the rest of the passage through the more recent points of history giving example after example of how various nations had fallen due to moral collapse, and how to recognize the warning signs. Nations where people cared more for how much they were paid, than whether they found satisfaction in their work. Nations where the glorification of the individual became so over-wrought that few cared for any beyond themselves. Nations where people attempted to legislate morality via the government, rather than behave morally themselves. Nations where people simply became so wrapped up in their day-to-day pleasures, that they did not notice tyranny rising over them until it was too late.

The teacher made particular point that the entry of magic into society did not change things any more than the advent of the information age itself did. Nations still rose and fell, wars were fought, won, and lost, there were simply new tools with which these things were accomplished. She also briefly covered how the parts of the world where magic had been hidden away from the rest of the world for centuries, either modernized very quickly, or were summarily conquered by nations possessing modern technology, be they modernized neighbours, or nations from the technological parts of the world.

This part of the history was particularly hard for Louise to accept, as it was essentially the story of how commoners had utterly crushed the magic-users of Joshua's world every time they fought. Such one-sided conflicts continued, until, eventually, the mages of Joshua's world were integrated into the various societies of the world as common citizens. Some organizations preached the supremacy of mages over non-mages, some preached the supremacy of 'natural' humans, over 'unnatural' magic users, but no nation taken over by either ever lasted.

When she woke from this dream, she found to her considerable surprise, Princess Henrietta in her bedchamber, staring at her, eyes filled with shock and concern.

"L-Louise?" Henrietta stammered, "Is that you?"

Louise's eyes widened in shock and fear.

"Y-your Highness!" Louise croaked, groaning in pain as she instinctively tried to stand, so that she could bow, and every muscle in her large body objecting to the pain.

"Miss Louise!" Siesta burst out, alerting Louise to her presence, "You mustn't try to move!"

Louise's body trembled with nervous tension as her mind grasped desperately for an appropriate reaction to the situation she found herself in.

Henrietta's mouth opened, closed, opened again, as her eyes roved up and down the form laid out on the bed before her.

Louise lay on her side, as the bone, ligament, and muscle structures associated with her hips and shoulders no longer allows for her to lay flat on her back. Her central body was something in the order of eight feet long, while a developing tail added another seven feet to her total length. Her limbs were now clearly draconic in form, and the blanket draped over her chest and abdomen was not large enough to cover them. It took Henrietta a few moments to sort out that her upper limbs should now more properly be called forelegs, rather than arms, though they did not appear to be losing their thumbs. Both her sets of limbs were of similar length now, roughly three and a half feet long. Louise's neck and head added another six feet to her total length, her head the only part of her body that was still clearly human in origin, and looking nearly grotesque attached to the clearly-inhuman neck for it.

Louise's face, though somewhat stretched out and covered with fur, was still somewhat recognizeable as that of the youngest Valliere child, and to Henrietta's relief, there was _no_ mistaking the long pink locks of hair that hung from her head, perfectly matched by the shade of her fur.

"It _is_ you Louise," Henrietta said, releasing a relieved breath, shock washing from her face and eyes to be replaced by pure concern, "What in Brimir's name has _happened _to you?"

Louise attempted to speak, but an upswelling of emotion and confusion within her robed her of her voice, and all the words she tried to form were choked off before they could properly form. Henrietta swiftly crossed the room, and gently lay a hand on the over-wrought girl's check, staring into her eyes, compassion and question plain in her eyes.

"Duchess Valliere," Henrietta said, not breaking eye contact with Louise, "Would you please give us some privacy?"

"Of course, your highness," Karin said promptly, voice brisk and courteous, "If you require anything, please do not hesitate to send Siesta for me at once."

Henrietta nodded, still not looking away from Louise's eyes, Henrietta simply nodded in response.

"Unless you wish for me to stay," Siesta said respectfully, "I will wait in the sitting room."

"Thank you, Siesta," Henrietta said, "You may tell my guards at the entrance that I will be here for some time."

"Of course, your Highness," Siesta said, and quietly followed Duchess Valliere out of Louise's bedchambers.

Once she was certain they were alone, Henrietta retrieved her wand from within the folds of her dress, and deftly cast a privacy ward. That accomplished, she gently lifted Louise's head, still not breaking gaze with Louise's pain and confusion-filled eyes, and slipped herself onto the girl's bed, and rested the pinkette's head on her lap.

"Now tell me, my oldest friend," Henrietta said, smiling softly, and stroking the pinkette's head and neck, "What troubles you so?"

Tears began to form in the young woman's eyes, and she stuttered several times before she could bring herself to speak.

"I-it is the dreams, your highness," Louise choked out, her deep, rumbling voice causing Henrietta to vibrate slightly.

"We are alone, Louise," Henrietta corrected, gently but firmly, still meeting Louise's eyes, "I am not the princess now, just Henrietta, and you are simply Louise, my dearest friend."

"Y-yes your high-," Louise cut herself off, "Ah, Henrietta."

"Much better," Henrietta said, smiling again, "Now, tell me about these dreams."

Louise paused for a moment, looking away and taking a deep breath to compose herself. It was a rather _long_ moment, and Henrietta realized with some startlement that Louise was inflating a vastly increased lung capacity through a mouth and nose the size of a normal human's. Once Louise had let out her exceptionally long breath, she focused on Henrietta again, and began to speak.

"I have dreams," She said, her deep voice more steady now, "Dreams of my Familiar's memories. Dreams of the world he came from before he summoned me, and they are… disturbing."

"I have heard of this familiar of yours," Henrietta said thoughtfully, "A man, some sort of soldier-Knight?"

"More than that," Louise said, "He is a powerful mage, and when he fought with my mother, he took her arm before she defeated him."

"A mage?" Henrietta said, "Strange enough to summon a human, but a mage on top of that?"

Louise nodded mutely.

"We are getting off topic though," Henrietta said, "What is so terrible about his world that it disturbs you?"

"It is not _terrible_," Louise rumbled, beginning to speak more quickly as she became excited, "It is _wonderful_. The people of his world have accomplished wonders beyond anything seen since Brimir himself, perhaps even greater! Their society existed for thousands of years, without the benefit of magic at all, and instead they developed their metalworking, and machinery, until their machines could do things we can scarcely dream of. The have farms, farms that cover _hundreds_ of miles, that are run by a mere score of men, directed hundreds of machines in the planting, harvesting, and collecting of food. They have machines that fly without the use of levitation stones, their medical technology has given them an understanding of the human body beyond anything we have even _conceived_ of!"

She broke off for a moment, her excitement dying abruptly.

"They have weapons," She said softly, her voice lowering to become so deep it was as much felt as heard, "That can destroy an entire city in an instant."

Her excitement returned as abruptly as it had left.

"And their _cities_!" She exclaimed, "Wonders of metal, glass, and synthetic stone, with towers so tall that they seem to touch the sky, with _millions_ of people from many different nations living within! Their commoners live as well as nobles do in any kingdom of Halkegenia, and their wealthy merchants have finer dwellings than the Royal Palace!"

Henrietta's eyes widened.

"All of this," Louise continued, her excitement beginning to fade, "And the foundation of it all was built before magic came to these people, a mere three hundred and some years ago. They advanced from the feudal system we live in, to a world I would not have been able to comprehend without dreaming for weeks through Joshua's memories, in only five hundred years."

Louise's excitement had faded to depression by this point, but still she continued.

"Prin-," She cut herself off, staring intensely up at the Heir of Tristainia, "_Henrietta_, I have sworn my loyalty to your family, as lawful reigning monarchs of the land appointed by the Founder himself, as passed down since the Founder's time six _thousand_ years ago. In that time, our society has made precious few advancements, and if anything, we have become weaker. In a twelfth that time, the people of Joshua's world advanced from a way of life much like ours, save without magic, to something so far beyond what we are capable of, that we would be seen as subjects of pity for how primitive we are. Their society is stronger than ours, wealthier than ours, _better_ than ours, in almost every way that I can imagine, and we had over five thousand years of lead time on them."

Louise paused to take a breath again, and Henrietta could feel her begin to tremble in her lap, and see the fear and confusion deep within her friend's eyes.

"I discovered just a few days past," Louise said, her deep voice beginning to waver, "T-that the reason all m-my spells have failed before now, is b-because I-I'm a_ Void mage_."

Henrietta gasped herself at the revelation, eyes going wide as she desperately searched for any sign of deception or uncertainty within Louise's eyes, but found none.

"Henrietta," Louise said, barely-controlled desperation coloring her voice, which had gone as quiet as was possible for her expanded form, "If the Void was not a sacred, unique thing to the founder, if being a Void Mage did not give him a divine right to determine how society should be, if the nations of Joshua's world are so much better than ours because they developed _apart_ from magic, how can we justify magic, and the Founder's blessing, as justification for ruling over commoners?"

Henrietta had no ready response for that.

"I'm not sure," She admitted slowly, "I will need to think on this. I can certainly see why it would be upsetting to you."

Louise nodded very faintly, the motion drawing Henrietta's attention back to the her friend's physical condition.

"We can speak of that again later, after some time for thought," Henrietta said gently, "For now, why don't you tell me of how your body came to be like this?"

Louise nodded, and began recounting the tale of Joshua's summoning, and the events that followed.

((()))

Karin was glad that the Princess had dismissed her, as she desired more time to think about what she had discovered earlier that day. Her hand had only been replaced two days ago, and she was leery of risking another maiming so close to the Princess visit, but she was not content to simply leave the matter of her daughter's familiar at the wayside. Moving swiftly through the castle grounds, she returned to the bunker that housed the unconscious Dragon, and inspected its forelegs critically.

The cut she had made on the Dragon's leg had scabbed over, the blood matting its fur, but it showed no sign of healing with supernatural speed. Whatever abilities her daughter's familiar had for resisting and healing damage, both appeared to be dependent upon its active concentration. Truly, it was a formidable Familiar, and once its bond was properly completed, and it fully entered her daughter's service, Louise would most probably be the safest woman in all of Halkegenia.

This pleased Karin.

((()))

End Chapter 5

((()))

AN: I'm glad I'm getting such a strong response to Karin's character, as I'm making considerable effort to try to portray her as realistic. She's actually not some kind of terrible villain; she's a good ruler, a protective mother, a dutiful wife, and loyal subject of the crown. The problem is, she's also _wrong_ about some things, and absolutely refuses to reconsider these things; namely that the Brimiric religion is wrong (explicitly a tool of the Romalian kingdom created by them to give them more power over the rest of Halkegenia), and she's not an affectionate, warm, or _supportive_ mother.

People with authority in real life, _especially parents_, will become more and more obviously destructive as they consistently refuse to admit their mistakes, and instead drive themselves further down destructive paths. During one of my less-happy times where I was in and out of being homeless, I stayed with a family. Within the first couple days of my stay with them, I had a conversation with the mother of the family about the role anger played in arguments. Namely, that anger is largely self-gratifying, it makes you feel stronger, feel more powerful, feel better; it literally makes you _physically_ feel good, as your body releases 'feel good' hormones into your bloodstream as part of the anger. I basically was saying that anger, as it commonly (but not necessarily always) manifests in arguments, is there for self-gratification on the part(s) of the angry one(s). She disagreed, but really had no coherent position on to _why_ she disagreed.

A few days later, I found out why she disagreed. Her eldest son, who was recently eighteen and graduated high school, had committed a minor infraction, putting off a task. She called him on it, and he promptly admitted wrongdoing, apologized, and set himself to the task right then and there. She, however, was not satisfied, and began berating and haranguing him, angrily yelling and shouting at him about his failure to have already complied with her wishes. He calmly, coolly, and politely, apologized again, admitted his error, and continued to his set task. This pattern between the two continued for at least half an hour.

She, quite simply, made a habit of gratifying herself through expression of anger at her offspring, who were under her authority, and had no recourse as their father would not over-rule or contest her, and was therefore unwilling to admit that she was treating her children in such a way for purely selfish reasons. Especially considering her eighteen-year-old son handled the conflict between them in a far more mature manner than she did. On the other hand, she and her husband were generous enough to take me in for a couple of months gratis, while I had been homeless. My older sister also has had an excellent relationship with her for many years.

She certainly was not a complete monster, but as time continued to progress, the issues that she refused to deal with were warping her more and more as she refused to face them, and continued to justify her actions. Almost everybody does this to some degree or another, but it usually only _really_ becomes a problem, when you put them in a position in authority, especially an absolute authority structure like parent/child, or to a lesser degree teacher/student, where those under the authority have no effective recourse. Then things get abusive, and those under the authority tend to get emotionally scarred in ways that lead to _them_ developing similar problems.

It's a vicious cycle I've seen many times, and the only solution I know is kindness, compassion, affection, _Love_. Love that protects, Love that supports, Love that is patient, kind, and gentle.

This is a huge part of why I am a Christian, as when you pay attention to what Christ Himself said, He had fierce words of rebuke for hypocritical authorities, and constant admonition to treat everyone with Love, even your enemies.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

AN: I think posting Cameron's Legacy on Spacebattles first has spoiled me; I've become frustrated with my inability to post responses to some of the comments I've gotten in reviews promptly. For example, where on _earth_ did so many people get the idea that there are no security systems built into the armor's interface? None of the Valliere's or their retainers even understand the language the interface uses, much less how to manipulate it, or even necessarily that it is ever any different than what they've already _seen_. I suppose it's simply a case of, since it is not seen, its absence is assumed.

Also, sorry for posting this a day later than my usual schedule, traveling over Thanksgiving delayed my posting. I'm hoping the large size makes up for it.

((()))

The royal castle of Gallia was a large, well-fortified structure, legitimately designed to serve as a military stronghold. And late at night, the upper towers made for an excellent covert rendezvous location, if one of the parties involved lived within the castle, and the other had a flying mount.

One of the upper towers was currently receiving exactly such a use, as a large flying beast bore its rider down to one of the tower's pinnacle.

"Wales is dead," The rider said to a man sitting in shadows on the tower's top.

"Good," The man said, "Anything else?"

"Henrietta will be traveling to visit the Valliere estate," The rider said, "To keep her childhood friend company while she is ill."

"Her friend is Louise Valliere?" The second man said sharply.

"Yes," The rider said.

"Excellent," The second man said, a smile in his voice, "We can use this."

((()))

"I wish to speak with Louise's familiar," Henrietta said.

Karin frowned.

"Your Highness," Karin said, "Louise's familiar is a very dangerous creature, At least a triangle mage of earth, wind, and fire, and I am not certain I can guarantee your safety around it if it is awake."

Henrietta arched an eyebrow at that.

"So dangerous that the Heavy Wind herself is cautious?" She asked.

"I have fought with him twice," Karin said, "The first time, I had to have my right arm partially regrown and reattached after the fight. The second time, I had to have my left hand regrown. The only ones besides myself I would trust around him, would be my daughter, and her handmaiden, as he is emotionally invested in their protection."

Henrietta was genuinely surprised, Louise had fallen asleep before she had progressed far enough in her recounting of her life since Joshua's arrival to speak of the Knight's fight with the Heavy Wind, though she had made it clear her familiar was a formidable combatant. Ultimately though, the question was whether she trusted Karin's estimation of the out-worlder's character better, or Louise's.

"I understand your concern," Henrietta said cordially, "And I will make sure my guardsmen understand you protest the safety of me doing so, but I must insist on meeting him. Without you present."

Karin was clearly not happy with Henrietta's proclamation, but she did the Princess' bidding.

((()))

This time, when Joshua awoke, he gave no outward sign of it. He simply lay there, listening, and reaching out with his magical senses to see who, if anyone, was nearby. He heard the soft breathing of two individuals within the enclosure that held him, too faint to have been heard if he had been using his human ears. He could sense the distinct, and _powerful_, magic of Karin a modest distance from the enclosure, her powerful signature recognizable even through the distortion of the wards they had raised around him. Much closer, was a water user of considerable power, her magical presence refined, showing a greater discipline and control than the students at the Academy had, save for Tabitha, but lesser than the teachers had. Whoever she was, it did not seem likely that she was expected to serve as some kind of threat.

So, he opened his eyes, and looked at her. He immediately recognized both people in the room; the one without a magical signature was Siesta, the one with was Louise's childhood friend, Princess Henrietta. _That_, he had not expected. Siesta and the Princess were both seated in wooden chairs, reading quietly, and apparently waiting for him to wake up. Joshua really wished he had a more recent source of information about the Princess' character than Louise's memories from seven years ago. His actions here and now would most probably determine whether his nation would find itself fighting a second war, brief as it would be.

"You know," He said softly-well, softly for a Dragon massing more than four tons, meaning his voice was a low rumble that could be mistaken for distant thunder, "It's generally considered unwise to leave the second-ranking leader of your nation unguarded with an armed prisoner of war."

Both of the young woman startled at his words, looking up from their reading material to stare at him. The Princess opened her mouth to respond, but Siesta pre-empted her, both in speed, and magnitude of response.

"Joshua!" She exclaimed, joy and relief permeating both her voice and face, leapt to her feet, and rushed across the chamber to embrace the front of his face.

Joshua would have said something in response, but was rather stymied by the fact that Siesta had wrapped herself around the front of his jaw, and the movements involved in speaking would have risked accidentally chewing on her. And with the size of his teeth in this form, when he chewed on someone, it was usually the last thing they experienced.

Taking a moment to flex the assorted muscles in his body and ensure his control was not compromised by lingering effects of sleep, brought his tail around, and gently slipped it between Siesta and his muzzle. He then lifted her up, which elicited a squeak of surprise from the maid, and carefully set her down on top of his skull, directly over his eyes, before turning his attention back to the Princess.

Who was giggling. Joshua rolled his eyes as he felt Siesta embrace him from above, attaching herself to the top of his skull, then beginning to giggle a little herself.

"What's so funny?" Joshua asked, some exasperation slipping into his tone.

"Your fur," Siesta said, and he could hear the smile in her voice, "It tickles, a little."

Joshua looked to the Princess, and she took a moment to stop her giggles before answering as well.

"You're not very imposing with Siesta hanging off of your face," Henrietta said, smiling prettily at him, "You're probably the least intimidating Dragon I've ever met."

Joshua seemed to wilt at Henrietta's words, turning his head away, and moving Siesta again, this time setting her down on the floor as he curled his head beneath his wing, and then partially furled the wing to hide it fully.

"Not many share your opinion," He said, his voice reaching an even deeper, more gravelly range than usual for his Draconic form.

Henrietta was more than a little surprised at his response to her words; she had met many men who she believed would take such comments as an affront to their masculinity, and in retrospect, she was not _his_ Princess, so really should not have been so free with her words, but he seemed more upset that more _didn't_ see him as she did. While she was thinking, Siesta was acting, striding purposefully around Joshua's large body, and then crawling up underneath his wing to sit on his head.

"Joshua N'bara," She said firmly, voice strong enough that Henrietta could hear her even though it was muffled by Joshua's wing, "I do not know who it is that is afraid of you, but unless they have done something genuinely deserving serious punishment, they are fools to be such. You are the most kind-hearted and protective man I have ever known, and I would consider myself safer held in your claws, than with the entire Tristanian army protecting me."

Surprising Henrietta yet again, the Dragon began trembling, its body shaking a way that if he had been human, Henrietta would have been certain meant he was attempting to not cry. She suddenly felt horribly like she was intruding on something terribly private, and was torn about what to do. On the one hand, she really did need to speak with Louise's familiar, on the other hand, it would be rude to intrude during his moment of vulnerability. Deciding that she needed to compromise, she withdrew her wand, and cast a spell first to ward the chamber as a whole from eavesdroppers, then a second to isolate a bubble around herself from anything less than an outright shout. That accomplished, she picked up her book again, one of Louise's secret stash of romance novels, and deliberately set about distracting herself with it.

((()))

"Joshua," Siesta asked quietly as she stroked the fur on his brow, "What is it that troubles you so?"

The Dragon Siesta was more or less surrounded by at this point shifted beneath her, and made an unhappy noise, but Siesta waited, and continued with her stroking.

"How long has it been since I first fought Karin?" He said eventually, and Siesta could hear the strain in his voice.

"Most of a month," Siesta admitted.

"I've been away from everyone I've ever known, fresh from the battlefield, without support, resupply, or rest time, for two months," Joshua rumbled quietly, "And people keep unintentionally reminding me of what happened to my family. I'm facing stress burn-out from having to be on-guard for a month."

"This isn't just stress," Siesta said gently as she began stroking progressively further down his face, "You're hurting, inside."

Joshua said nothing, but she could feel him trembling again, and the wetness building around his large eyes.

"Why do you fight to keep it inside so much?" Siesta asked softly, leaning in to hug Joshua's head for a moment, before resuming her stroking.

"My parents were killed in the attack that started the war," Joshua said thickly, "That made me a leader, for my sisters first, and later others. Leaders don't lose it in front of their subordinates."

"I'm not your subordinate," Siesta said firmly, "And I have many siblings, and know how to tell when someone needs a good cry. And right now, you do."

Joshua's angry growl surprised her, and as she was standing directly next to his very _large_ jaw, jabbed the instinctive fear response intrinsic all humans shared _hard_. Siesta promptly ignored the instinct, as deliberately _learned_ instincts told her that reacting in fear to Joshua would be the worst possible way she could respond to him in that moment.

"What I _need_," Joshua growled, intense heat not only in his voice, suddenly rolling off his body all around her, "Is to return to my nation, to the war it is fighting, to protect my _people_."

"I believe you," Siesta said firmly, "And I wish I was able to help you with that, but I am just a commoner maid, and both a younger and older sister. You may need to return to your people, but you also need a good cry, before all the pressure breaks you inside."

The heat rolling off of Joshua's body ceased, and he shied away from her, a futile action considering she was literally standing on him, and she knew her point had been made, even if he wasn't willing to admit it yet. When she felt the moisture that had been limited to his eyes a moment before begin to spread though, she realized that her words had probably touched his heart in deeper places that he wanted right now. Siesta fought off the urge to sigh; he was just like her brothers, wanting to always be the strong, independent man, and to not need to rely on anyone.

Taking a moment to think, she figured out what the best way to maximize physical contact for comforting effect with her vastly smaller size relative to his was as best she could, then firmly wrapped his head in a hug again, and began murmuring comforting words to him while she stroked him with one free hand.

((()))

It was a good quarter of an hour later by the time Siesta emerged from the Dragon's curled body, and Henrietta had managed to sufficiently involve herself in her reading that she did not notice Siesta until the maid entered her sound-warded bubble.

"He's fallen asleep, Princess," Siesta said, with a bittersweet smile, "He probably would be more amenable if you don't refer to it as such, but he cried himself to sleep in my arms. He'll almost certainly be awake again in a half an hour or so, as he's only sleeping off the emotional exhaustion."

Henrietta lowered her book, and just studied the maid. Siesta was _not_ what Henrietta had come to expect from the commoners amongst her subjects. The girl's first response to a Dragon speaking with her, had been to hug its snout, and by what Henrietta had picked up from Louise's story the previous night, Siesta had not spent time with Joshua while he was in his Dragon form, or at the least, while he was in his Dragon form, and _conscious_. She also had not missed that the maid's body language spoke clearly that she would defer to the Dragon, before she would defer to Henrietta. A brief glance through memory had shown the same attitude regarding Louise. Henrietta was also fairly certain that Siesta had fallen in love with Joshua, but never having seen him as a human, it was hard for her to properly wrap her mind around that.

"Siesta," Henrietta said, "I must say, you are far more impressive than most of the common folk of my realm."

"T-thank you your Highness," Siesta stuttered, suddenly blushing as she looked away from Henrietta.

"I've seen the way you look at Louise, and Joshua," Henrietta said, "It is clear to me that you are very loyal to both of them, but from Louise's accounting, she only met you two months ago. How is it that she earned your loyalty so quicky?"

Siesta was silent for a moment, and when she looked back to meet Henrietta's gaze, she was definitely no longer blushing.

"Did she tell you about Joshua's duel with Lord Sothos?" Siesta asked quietly.

"Yes," Henrietta said.

"Did she tell you why Joshua fought with Sothos?" Siesta asked.

"She said that Sothos was harassing the women on the castle staff," Henrietta said, "Was it you he was harassing in particular?"

"I was his most recent target," Siesta said sadly, "But he'd raped at least five women before, three of them often enough to get them pregnant."

Siesta started as Henrietta's silence ward came apart in a loud splatter, while the Princess' fist clenched around her wand.

"This is Martel Sothos," Henrietta said, her diction painfully precise, "Second son of the Sothos family, you speak of?"

Siesta nodded, slightly unnerved by Henrietta's sudden mood swing.

"I have heard nothing of this," Henrietta said, her voice sharpening till it was almost bloody, "And if there had been a trial, it would have been at the Capital. What became of Sothos?"

"Joshua unmanned him," Siesta said, a touch of ire entering her tone, "With sword and flame, after which he was expelled from the academy."

Henrietta nodded sharply.

"I suppose that is an acceptable outcome, for now," Henrietta said, "However, I will be contacting the Sothos family, and informing them that if the regenerate Martel's organs, or have already done so, the Crown will be prosecuting him for rape to the maximum extent of the law."

Siesta stared at Henrietta, face slack and eyes wide with shock, and Henrietta realized rather abruptly realized just how Louise and Joshua had earned the maid's loyalty, and that she had just done so herself. It was not as though her own story with Agnes was terribly different.

"Miss Siesta," Henrietta said, staring directly into the young maid's eyes, "It will not be long before I become the new monarch of Tristain. I will tell you now, very plainly, that when I do, I intend to change a great many things, things that most of the nobility will object to strenuously. Your mistress, Louise, is one of my oldest and dearest friends, and I will need her as a strong, loyal ally to help me weather the opposition I will face. She relies on your services greatly, and from listening to more than just what she said, she has come to rely on your support personally as well. If you wish to support the changes I will be making, please do so by supporting Louise."

Before he had died, Henrietta's father had taught her a great deal about the skills a ruler needed, and one of the foremost was how to make people feel like their every-day efforts were part of an overall greater purpose. It was a skill she was often hesitant about putting into practice, as it could tend to feel like an almost-lie, but in _this_ case, what she said was nothing but the truth, and she had no compunctions about using it.

"Th-thank you, your highness," Siesta said, smiling tremulously at Henrietta.

"There is no need to thank me," Henrietta said, smiling at the maid, "After all, nobility and royalty are only _worth_ being nobility and royalty, when they rule _well_."

Siesta nodded sharply, tears glimmering in the corners of her eyes, and Henrietta knew she had another subject committed to her cause.

((()))

When Joshua woke again, it was to the sound of Henrietta and Siesta quietly exchanging stories of growing up in the Tristain Palace, and Tarbes, respectively. He listened to them for a time, quietly removing his wing from over his head so that he could hear more clearly, and allowed the tales of simple everyday life, and the girl's occassional giggles, to soothe him. He only allowed a few minutes to pass this way, however, as he knew there had to be a greater purpose than idle curiosity behind the Princess staying and waiting for him to wake up again.

"I'm awake," He eventually said, bringing his head around to face the pair of attractive young women, "I assume you wished to speak with me about something more?"

"Yes," Henrietta said, turning gracefully to face him, "I have spoken with Louise, and received a partial accounting of the events since you arrived in Halkeginia. And also, apparently, she has been seeing your memories in her dreams."

Joshua closed his eyes, and sighed at that, his breath gusting about the enclosure. He sighed again, then his body began to glow, rapidly growing in intensity to become painfully bright, and when it faded, Joshua was human again. It took Siesta and Henrietta a few moments to blink away the flash-blindness, and in that time, Joshua smashed a fist through the floor of the enclosure, and levitated up a mass of loose earth to use as an improvised pair of trunks. Modesty preserved, he walked over to the other two, and seated himself cross-legged on the earth in front of them.

"I'm not entirely surprised," Joshua said, "I have been seeing her memories in my dreams as well, since Karin defeated me. Before then, I calibrated my sleeping patterns to only overlap a little, as such things have been known to happen when my people form magical bonds before."

Henrietta nodded before speaking herself.

"There are anecdotes of mages having strange dreams of hunting or grazing after binding their familiar," Henrietta said, eying Joshua speculatively, "I suppose it is unsurprising they would be more intense amongst two intelligent beings. Tell me though, Duchess Valliere believes you are a Dragon taken human form, and Louise believes you are a human who can take Dragon form, which is it?"

"Neither, actually," Joshua said, smirking slightly, "Both forms are equally natural to me. I was born in human form, but some few of my kindred are born as Dragons, and make the change in the opposite direction."

"I must admit," Henrietta said, studying him carefully as she spoke, "Of all possible responses, that one had not occured to me. Louise painted a fantastic picture of your world for me, a world of incredible wealth, where the ability to use magic does not divide commoner from noble, and the machines of commoners, or perhaps more accurately, non-magicals, put them on a parity with magic-users."

"That would be one way of describing it," Joshua said, "I'm frankly amazed by how stagnant your world has managed to remain. Professor Colbert at the academy is most probably doing more for your people with his mechanical tinkering than any entire generation has with any other endeavour in the last six thousand years. The one advantage your people have over mine, is having managed to _maintain_ a history for six thousand years."

"I wish our histories did us better credit," Henrietta said quietly, "I have desired change for my people for some time, and I hope that you may be able to tell me more of your world, so that I can better learn to enact it."

"Well then," Joshua said, "I'll be happy to fill you in."

((()))

Tabitha had never seen the Valliere estates before, but she knew about the Heavy Wind, and was not entirely surprised by the heavily-fortified nature of its core settlement. Considering how heavily the walls were both armed, and manned, she decided that it would be in her, Kirche, Sylphid, and Flame's best interests to land a good half mile from the castle, and approach the castle at a slow, leisurely walk, careful to appear as non-threatening as a pair of triangle-mages escorted by a Dragon and a Salamander could. It appeared to work, as they were challenged, rather than attacked, when they reached the gate. Kirche was still terribly aware that six different ballistae on the walls were trained on their position.

"Hail!" The Valliere armsman at the gate called as they reached the gate, "Who be you Ladies, and what brings you to the castle Valliere?"

Kirche opened her mouth to respond, but Tabitha laid her hand on the Germanian girl's arm. The redhead looked down at her diminutive companion, who shook her head, then lowered her book, and stood straighter. Kirche was more than a little unnerved, as the last time she had seen Tabitha stand so, they had fought. Instead of attacking, however, Tabitha addressed the guard, raising her voice to the highest volume the Germanian had ever heard it reach.

"I am Charlotte d'Orleans," Tabitha said clearly, "And I have come to speak with Henrietta of Tristain. I bid you send someone to inform her of such. We will wait here."

Kirche stared at Tabitha in confusion, then turned to look at the gateman, but found he had followed Tabitha's instruction, so she turned back to her friend.

"Charlotte d'Orleans?" Kirche asked, confusion and a small amount of hurt in her voice, "I have never asked your family or title, but I had thought Tabitha was your real name?"

Tabitha looked down and away from Kirche, but not before Kirche was able to notice the pain in the smaller girl's eyes. Kirche felt the impulse to, and was her nature, did not resist, so reached over and hugged her friend tightly.

"Will you tell me later?" Kirche said, "When we have some privacy?"

Tabitha trembled in her grip for a moment, then nodded reluctantly. Seeing no reason not to, Kirche continued to hold Tabitha, until the gateman returned.

"The Princess will receive you within," He said, "She specifically instructed that you were not to be required to surrender your wands. Your familiars may wait within the courtyards."

The man gestured for them to follow him within, and they did so, Slyphid having to manage her wings carefully in order to avoid scraping them against the gate's walls. They passed through the outer wall, the outer courtyard, the inner wall, and the inner courtyard, before entering the inner keep. Flame and Slyphid remained on the grounds, Flame following Slyphid, who broke off with a gesture from Tabitha. Once within the keep, they passed to the second floor, and several corridors, before coming to a small but comfortably furnished sitting room with two other exits, where the Princess of Tristain awaited, sitting at a small table, and sipping tea. A pair of royal guardsman flanked the entrance to the room, and to their surprise, Siesta was seated with the Princess.

"Charlotte," She said when the pair entered, smiling warmly at the bluenette, "I have not seen you since we were children, come, have a seat, and please introduce your friend?"

Tabitha nodded her head in greeting, but looked at Siesta, rather than introduce Kirche directly.

"Ah," Siesta said standing to seat the newly-arrived nobles, trying to overcome her surprise at seeing the pair, "Princess, she is Kirche von Zerbst, a student at Tristain Academy."

"A Zerbst?" Henrietta said as Siesta served Tabitha and Kirche tea, eyebrows rising slightly in surprise, "Quite daring, to come within the stronghold of your traditional rivals like this. Do sit down again, Siesta. What brings the two of you to the Valliere estates?"

Kirche was accustomed to speaking for the pair, but was hesitant to do so given recent events, so instead looked to Tabitha for a signal about what to do next. Tabitha nodded slightly for Kirche to speak, and Kirche turned back to face the pair of Tristainians.

"I was unaware, your Highness," Kirche said, "That Ta-, er, _Charlotte_, was personally acquainted with you. If she has social business with you, I am unaware of it, but at the least, we have come to see to the care of the Knight who is Louise Valliere's familiar. I wouldn't mind speaking with Louise herself, either."

"Oh?" Henrietta said, arching an eyebrow, "What is it about a familiar, albeit an unusual one, that interests a scion of the Zerbst, and the Heir to the throne of Gallia?"

Kirche opened her mouth to respond, before her brain fully caught the last part of Henrietta's statement, then began to choke as her brain locked up halfway through her first word. Turning, she stared in shock at Tabitha, mouth still hanging open as she tried to reconcile her near-mute friend with the words of the Princess of Tristain.

Tabitha for her part, sat as still as ever, her face a tight mixture of concentration and pain. She did not look at Kirche, but kept her gaze fixed upon the Heir of Tristain, and then spoke, very slowly and haltingly.

"My familiar," Tabitha said, "Is much like Louise' Familiar, but much younger. He showed concern for her, even to willingness to fight me to ensure she was well-treated. Kirche is romantically interested in him."

Henrietta gazed at Kirche for a few moments, sizing the tall, well-endowed girl up, before turning to meet Charlotte's gaze, keen eyes meeting the bluenette's own determined ones.

"He has had a rough time," Hernrietta said, "But is in good physical health, and I may be placing him under my personal protection before my visit concludes. I have spoken with him, Louise, and Siesta about the events since he arrived within my realm, and I see an honorable man in him. Or Dragon. Or whatever he is."

Tabitha nodded minutely, and Kirche managed to finally get her brain in gear.

"Heir to the _Throne of Gallia?_" She practically exploded, "I thought the King was without issue!"

"He is," Henrietta said, turning to fix her gaze upon Kirche, "Charlotte is his niece, and there are none closer related. There is something not right here though, Charlotte is nothing like what I remember from so many years ago, and I gather she has been under an assumed name at the Tristain Academy."

She turned to face the bluenette again.

"What is going on, Charlotte?" She asked firmly, "Why are you so quiet?"

Tabitha finally broke her gaze off of Henrietta, by closing her eyes. The girl's death became deep, and labored, and all the other occupants of the room could readily see that she was struggling mightily against tears.

"Father killed," Her soft voice eventually revealed, "Mother poisoned, driven mad. They will kill her if I disobey. Sent on suicide missions since I was seven."

Kirche stared at her friend in horror. She knew that Tabitha's history and familial relations were not pleasant, but she had assumed it was something more along the lines of her own, not _this._ Siesta was silently crying, and fidgeting with her hands as she tried to decide whether or not it would be appropriate to offer the smaller girl comfort via a hug.

Henrietta, on the other hand, was staring at empty space past Tabitha's head, her eyes narrowed as she began tallying assets and allies, and what she knew of conditions within Gallia.

"Where is your mother being held?" She asked after long seconds in contemplation, "I may be able to arrange for her _retrieval_."

Siesta, Kirche, and Tabitha all immediately faced Henrietta, expressions ranging from surprise to shock at her unexpected words.

"You could end up in a war with Gallia!" Kirche said in startlement, "How on earth would you accomplish such a thing, anyways?"

"War is doubtful," Henrietta said, her voice harsh as she turned to face Kirche, "It has not been made public yet, but I am soon to be wed to the Emperor of Germania. Gallia is powerful, but King Joseph would be a fool to face both Tristain's elite mages, and the sheer size of the Germanian army combined. I do not think you knew Charlotte before her family was destroyed. It was many years ago, but she still stands out in my mind as one of the most innocent, friendly girls I have ever met. _Look_ at her now!"

Henrietta gestured to the silent, trembling bluenette, anger clear in her voice.

"I _can not_ _stand_ such atrocities on _any_ level nation. If I do nothing, I give my tacit assent to such things through my inaction."

Siesta smiled through her tears, and rested the urge to applaud Henrietta's words. Tabitha wrapped her arms around herself as she continued to struggle with her emotions.

Kirche did not know _how_ to respond to Henrietta's words, so did nothing.

"Kirche of the Zerbst," Henrietta said, continuing to stare at the fiery redhead, "As I recall, a political marriage was arranged for you, to a count three times your age. I am sure that part of the reason you are at Tristain Academy, rather than a Germanian or Gallian school, is because of your opposition to this?"

Kirche nodded slightly.

"Then you know just as well as I do," Henrietta said, pain beginning to leak past the anger in her voice, "Something in Halkeginia is rotten, corrupt. Change is needed."

Her eyes blazed with a fire so hot, a fire like nothing Kirche had ever seen in a woman before, and for the first time, Kirche understood what a _charismatic_ leader was.

"I mean to _bring_ that change," Henrietta said, "And soon enough, your realm will be allied with my own. Will you aid me in bringing that change?"

Kirche had made her life around seeking out passion, and responding to it, and found that nothing in her was willing to do anything but consent to the fiery woman before her, and so she nodded sharply in assent.

Henrietta leaned back into her seat, and closed her eyes. She took deep, even breaths, striving for calm, but Siesta could see the pain in her body language as the anger and zeal faded.

"Princess," She said hesitantly, and Henrietta turned her head and opened her eyes to look at the maid, "Princess," Siesta continued with more surety, her voice gentle, "What is it that you have lost?"

Henrietta closed her eyes, and shrank in her chair, pulling her legs up in front of her, and wrapping her arms around them.

"I have seen the injustices in my own realm for many years," Henrietta said sadly, "And it is because of this that I have made my plans to act. But as to what I have lost..."

Her voice trailed off for a moment, and when she spoke again, it was hoarse with emotion.

"This past week," She said, her voice so faint as to be scarcely audible, "Prince Wales, of Albion, was assassinated by the Reconquista. He was my beloved, and had it not been for the rebellion within his kingdom, we could have shared a marriage both of Love, and to strengthen both our realms."

Once the last words were said, she buried her face in her legs, and began to tremble as tears sought to escape her.

Siesta had no great familiarity with Tabitha, despite the time both had spent at the academy, but she had spent most of the past few days with the Princess, as Louise was almost always asleep, and Agnes, the Princess customary personal servant, had not yet returned from some form of errand or another. Her greater familiarity with the Princess of Tristain led her to believe that the young woman would welcome her comfort, rather than feel Siesta was acting above her station, and so she stood, and moved around the table to where the Princess sat, and wrapped her in a warm embrace.

"Princess," Siesta said gently, rubbing the younger woman's shoulders soothingly, "I know I am poor substitute for an old friend such as Louise, but you did not need to hide this for so long."

Henrietta began to quietly weep, and once her tears began to flow, Tabitha's finally broke fully free as well. Kirche eyed Siesta and Henrietta for a moment, then firmly made her mind up, and pulled Tabitha into her lap to comfort the girl herself. After a few moments, Siesta maneuvered the Heir of Tristain into her own lap.

Kirche and Siesta gently held and provided comfort to the two Heirs that evening, until the two cried themselves to sleep. It would be only the first highly unusual bonding experience they would share.

((()))

Irukuku was a little bit nervous about this new place; there were a lot of humans about, and none of the ones she was familiar with, besides Big Sis and Auntie Kirche. And they were inside now, where she couldn't really fit properly, and now she was alone with _Flame_. Flame was like the annoying little brother she wasn't sure if she was glad she'd inherited or not.

At least his curiosity-driven antics were distracting some people, so not _everyone_ was staring at her. Still, Big Sis had said she might find another Dragon around here, the one that looked like a human sometimes, and he might need help, so she kept moving around the courtyards, looking. It didn't take long to find him; after all, there weren't many places big enough to hide a Dragon, even one as small as she was, and this one was much bigger.

There was a big hollow lump of magical earth that smelled like it had been moved fairly recently in one of the sections of courtyard, one with two guard-humans standing watch near it, and two of the big bows up on the wall pointed at its entrance. Irukuku was pretty sure it was the place, but still stuck her head in to make sure. It made the guard-humans nervous, but they didn't have any magic, so she wasn't worried about them. Inside, she found a middle-sized Dragon, and, he was asleep. He also had _fur_, all over the place, which definitely meant he was the right Dragon, even if it was _weird_, because Dragons were supposed to have _scales_, not _fur_.

Deciding that it was as good a place to sleep as any, Irukuku crooned a little to let Flame know where she was going, then slipped into the hole in the ground, and curled up beside the larger Dragon to get to sleep. It helped her feel a little bit less far away from her mama, being close to an older Dragon, even if he had fur instead of scales.

((()))

"It just lay down and went to sleep?" Karin asked, staring into the Dragon's enclosure.

"Yes ma'am," The guard said, "It made no threatening gestures whatsoever."

Karin nodded, then turned to face the guard.

"Both of the Princesses have retired for the night," She said, "That Dragon is the Familiar of the heir to the throne of Gallia. Unless it is directly threatening a human life, _directly_, not merely posturing, do _not_ attack it. If it exhibits any dangerous behavior, summon myself, and Cattleya, at once, regardless of the hour."

The guard nodded, and saluted crisply. Karin saluted back, then turned and left, intending to turn in for the night herself.

((()))

At one hour past midnight, the night after Tabitha and Kirche arrived, some five miles from the Castle Valliere, half of the Royal Griffon Knights were assembled, receiving final orders from their Captain.

"I am engaged to the third daughter of the Valliere's," Viscount Wardes said, "I will attempt to gain entry to the castle via the excuse of a visit to my sick fiancee. If I do not return or send a message within three hours, know that our fears are confirmed and the Princess is held captive. If this is the case, hold nothing back, storm the castle with the utmost prejudice, and take any measure necessary to ensure her safety. Is this understood?"

"Aye, sir," The assembled Knights quietly proclaimed, mindful of keeping their presence undetected.

"Then I am off," Wardes said, leaping astride his own Griffon, and soaring off into the night.

((()))

Irukuku woke in the dead of the night, as she was wont to do, and took a moment to remember where she was. Once she remembered the trip Big Sis had taken her on, and the Dragon she was sleeping next to, she took a few moments out to yawn and stretch, before waking the other Dragon. She frowned when a few pokes and some jostling failed to wake him, then took a good sniff at him.

_Ohhh!_ She realized, _Someone's put a sleepy spell on him with the water magic! Big Sis has been showing me how to do the water magic!_

Irukuku didn't really know how to do much more than shape water magic, she was really much more of a _wind_ Dragon, but she figured it couldn't hurt to poke at the sleep spell on the other Dragon and see if she could pick it apart, so she set about to doing just that, curiosity driving her just as much as the desire to have the Draogn wake up.

((()))

It was not difficult for Wardes to gain entry to the Castle Valliere, it had been many years since he had visited, but he was still on the short list of individuals the Duke and Duchess had granted ready access to their home to. After all, if he was to wed their youngest daughter, they had needs to trust him, didn't they?

It had been ten years, but once the guards allowed him entrance, he was still able to find Louise's quarters by himself, though the guards at the entrance warned him that the girl's illness had had untoward effects on her body, and he may not wish to see his fiancee in such a state. Wardes was surprised that they had not instead insist he enter only with an escort, in order to ensure her virtue was not threatened.

Once he entered the inner chambers of Louise's suite, however, he understood all too well why they had not made even mention of such things. His betrothed's body was not merely beset by an illness, one could not even call it _human_ anymore. The only vaguely recognizable features about her, were her hair (and the matching pink _fur_), and her face, though even that was distorted somewhat. Her body had become so massive, that even laying on her flank, she still stretched out to cover the entire, quite sizable, bed.

In a modest cot beside Louise's bed, a pretty young maid with the distinct features of a descendant of Tarbes slept, directly beside the nightstand. On the nightstand, several large mounds of salted and sliced pork rested, as well as three whole loafs of bread, and two large pitchers of water. This, combined with the bedpan he noticed, led Wardes to conclude that his fiancee was not only immobilized, but also her illness kept her unconscious must of the time. Considering the sheer amount of growth she seemed to be undergoing, that was hardly surprising.

"Ah, Louise," Wardes said softly, "What have they done to you?"

Then he set a silencing spell around the maid, and began securing his fiancée for transport. After all, he had only a little more than two hours before the attack would begin.

((()))

Joshua awoke to a decidedly unpleasant feeling, that of someone else poking around at his insides with magic. The only thing that kept him from immediately moving to attack, was how utterly inept the fumblings were, and the fact that whoever was doing it, had apparently managed to dispel whatever it was that had been keeping him unconscious.

So instead, he rolled away from whoever it was that was poking at him, then sat up at his haunches. He hadn't expected to see Slyphid, Tabitha's familiar staring at him with great big puppy dog eyes.

"Nee, nee," The Dragon whispered, its voice the, _relatively_, soft voice of a child Dragon, "Is Big Brother awake now?"

Joshua blinked, taking a moment to think before responding.

"Yes," He said, "I am awake. What brings you here?"

"Big Sis was worried about Big Bro," The younger Dragon said, "And so was Aunty Kirche, so we came to visit, and see how you were doing."

Slyphid paused for a moment, before continuing.

"So, how is Big Bro doing?"

"As well as can be expected," Joshua said, not wishing to alarm the child in front of him, "And what of you?"

"Kyyuuuuuiii!" Slyphid trilled excitedly, and Joshua winced, before condensing a buffer of air to deaden any sound traveling out of the bunker they were in, "Irukuku is happy! Now she has another Dragon she can talk to!"

Joshua began performing stretches, and preparing himself for a breakout, as he listened to the younger Dragon's excited recounting of her day with half an ear.

((()))

"It's been three hours," The lieutenant who held command in Wardes absence announced, "Let's move out."

The Royal Griffon Knights mounted up, and began to depart, rapidly climbing so that they would be harder to see or hear in the night sky.

((()))

"They're moving out," Sheffeld announced to the circling Albion Dragon Knights, "We follow, but remember, attack only on my signal."

Flying high, at heights that no other mount in Halkeginia could manage, the Dragons shadowed the Griffons.

((()))

Joshua's head snapped around, facing to the West and up.

"Irukuku," He said softly, "I sense an approaching group of high-level mages, between three and five dozen. Do you know where Tabitha sleeps?"

Irukuku nodded.

"Time is short," Joshua said, and took a long moment to concentrate, before shifting forms with much less light and flash than usual, "We must go to her at once."

Irukuku nodded, bounding out of the enclosure, bowling the guards posted outside over as she did so. Joshua sprinted after her, leaping onto her back with a wind-assisted jump before she could get too far ahead of him.

((()))

Wardes stood beside his fiancee's bed, staring out the window to the West as he waited for the change-of-watch bell to toll. Behind him, Louise's bloated form was wrapped securely in sheets and blankets, under the effects of a sleeping potion, with his wand tip carefully laid atop the bundle, ready to deliver the Levitation spell he would need to carry her out.

In front of him, he held a minor magical artifact, one pre-loaded with a single spell, and the crux of his plans for himself and Louise. Her altered form would only ease the execution of his plan, as once the Knights saw her...

The bell tolled, and Wardes triggered his device, shattering the relative quiet of the night with a blast of earth and fire magic that breached to outer wall of the keep, tearing open a hole large enough to move a full-grown Dragon through.

((()))

What Wardes had heard was not, in fact, the watch-bell, it was an alert bell raised because of Irukuku and Joshua's breakout from the bunker that the Knight had been held in. Had Wardes not detonated his magical shaped charge, the alert would simply have summoned the current watch to the area, and within a few minutes, Karin would have been roused. Instead, the explosion awoke every armsmen, both in service and retired, on the Valliere estate, as well as every single mage, Cattleya, Louise, Karin, Kirche, and both Princesses.

In the three minutes before the Royal Griffon Knights would arrive, every single emplacement on the castle walls would be manned by extremely well-disciplined and trained soldiers, and mages would raise signal flares to illuminate the night sky. The attackers would arrive to find the castle at maximum alert, and the protection of the night sky considerably diminished.

((()))

"Go to Tabitha!" Joshua shouted, leaping off of Irukuku as she rounded one of the tight corners within the castle keep.

Joshua's entire body trembled for a moment in mid leap, then it was coated in a layer of synthetic muscle, then impact-absorbing gel over that, then finally, plate mail and helm over that.

When he struck the earth, his sword appeared in his hand, and he began to sprint towards Louise's quarters, guided by the connection between him and the young woman formed in the summoning court on the day he arrived.

((()))

Kirche stormed out of the guest quarters she had been given, only partially dressed, but holding her wand, which was enough for her. In the corridor, she found Tabitha, wearing only an oversized slip, also wielding her staff, and the pair of royal guardsmen that held watch over the Princess.

"What happened?" She immediately demanded of the guardsmen, but before they could respond, Henrietta burst from her own room, fully, if simply clad, unlike the other two nobles.

"Princess!" One of the guards burst out, but any further words were cut off by the arrival of Tabitha's familiar.

Tabitha locked gazes for a moment with the young Dragon, before sweeping her gaze across the hallway's other four occupants, sharply weighing them.

"Irukuku," She said, turning to face her familiar again, "You may speak in front of these humans. What happened?"

"Kyuu~ii!" The Dragon said, "There was an explosion, and Big Bro said to find you, then he went to find the pink almost-Dragon!"

Tabitha turned to look at Henrietta, and the two Princesses held each other's gazes for a long moment, before Henrietta nodded.

"Sergeant Trent," Henrietta said, turning to face one of her guards, "You will remain with me, while Corporal Brooks will hold position here, and direct the rest of the guard to catch up with us when they arrive."

"Where will we be going ma'am?" Sergeant Trent asked.

"To find Duchess Valliere," Henrietta said, "She will know what is happening."

((()))

Karin was indeed aware of what was happening, the first thing she had done upon waking, was check the condition of her daughters. When she had entered the room of her middle daughter, she had found Cattleya being dressed by Gretchen. When she entered Louise's chambers, however, she found a stunned Siesta trying to drag herself out from under her overturned cot, a massive hole in the wall of the keep, and her youngest daughter missing.

A quick levitation spell freed Siesta, but before Karin could begin to question the maid on what had happened, Joshua N'bara sprinted into the room, fully armed and armored. Karin turned to interdict him, but he barely paid the woman a glance before leaping out of the hole, and making the fiery transition to his Dragon form, taking flight into the night. Snarling, Karin leapt out after him, wrapping her magic around herself to fly in pursuit. The Dragon was swift, but she was swifter, and it took her less than half a minute to catch up with him, but by then, her perception of things had changed a great deal.

Approaching out of the East, fully half of the Royal Griffon Knights were approaching, and flying away to meet them, was a cloaked figure that she was almost certain was Viscount Wardes, carrying the writhing form of her daughter.

"There are more," Joshua said, his voice a low rumble which only she could hear, "Another group approaches from three more miles out, at an altitude only Dragons can reach in your world."

Karin snorted, staring at the approaching battle-mages, anger rising in her as she realized that her home was under attack, and more importantly, she had been _betrayed_.

"There are too many of them to fight in the air," She said, snarling, "We will have to fight them from the castle walls."

With that she turned and retreated, and after a moment of thought, Joshua grudgingly followed.

((()))

Cattleya emerged from her quarters, the Princesses and their companions reached the corridor that accessed the Valliere family's personal quarters, and Karin and Joshua returned all within moments of each other.

"Duchess Valliere," Henrietta said, "What is happening, and how can we help?"

"The Royal Griffon Knights are attacking," Karin said, "I suspect that Viscount Wardes may be behind this, and may have been the one to abduct Louise."

"Is this Wardes?" Joshua asked, as the image of a white-gray haired man in his twenties appeared atop his Dragon-sized left gauntlet.

"Yes," Karin and Henrietta both said simultaneously.

"Wardes should not be here without direct orders from myself, or my mother," Henrietta said, "As he made no effort to contact me, personally, before initiating violence, I name him traitor."

"And the rest of the Knights?" Karin asked.

"Are at best, dupes to a Traitor," Henrietta said harshly, "I would prefer they survive the coming fight, but I will not place the value of their lives above that of your men or those still serving me properly."

"And the Dragons coming behind them?" Joshua asked, his voice grinding with anger.

Henrietta opened her mouth to respond, then remembered just who, and what, she was speaking to, as well as the smaller Dragon behind her.

"Do you have any direct way of telling if a Dragon is intelligent?" She asked instead.

"Not without a shared language," Joshua said.

"Then treat them as either enemy soldiers, or an enemy's warhorse," Henrietta said, "Whichever."

"Unless you have further direction," Karin said, "I must direct my men."

"There are three triangle class mages here," Henrietta said, "I'm certain you can use us somewhere."

"Response team," Karin said, already walking away, "If you see a defensive point fail, please render aid."

Quiet reigned for nearly a minute, Joshua trying to determine the tactical situation as best he could, Henrietta's mind whirling through possible reasons and ramifications of Wardes betrayal, Cattleya quietly asking Siesta what had happened, Tabitha whispering instructions to Irukuku, and Kirche feeling terribly out of depth.

"Albion's Dragon Knights," Henrietta abruptly said, "They have to be."

"What?" Kirche asked, "Why?"

"Wardes does not have enough weight to draw in more than those he personally commanded," Henrietta said, "And he must have had some idea of what he would face, between The Heavy Wind, and the Valliere family's retainers. If he had only brought the Griffon Knights, and expected them to fail against the Valliere forces. But he also must have a motive for all of this, and the only I can see is either a personal grudge against the Valliere's, which is unlikely as he took Louise with him, rather than killed her outright, or to assassinate me. If he has convinced the Griffon Knights I am held captive, or even ensorcelled, he can lead the Knights against us, and then the Dragon Knights come in to wipe out the surviving faction, and slay me. This fits perfectly with the goals of the Reconquista."

"The critical question then becomes," Joshua said, "Can we convince the Griffon Knights you are not held captive?"

"Unlikely," Henrietta said, shaking her head sharply, "Wardes is smart, he would have accounted for the possibility. If he did not think he could convince them I am under influence, he would have attempted to kill me himself."

Joshua nodded silently.

"So," He said, "The true problem, is that there should be more than enough soldiers on the other side of the field to guarantee our defeat. I can most probably evacuate the lot of us, but I cannot move the entirety of the castle's population."

"And I cannot allow the Valliere's to fall," Henrietta said, "As they are amongst the strongest supporters of the Royal family, not to mention we will need their aid to rescue Louise."

She paused for a moment, and took a deep breath, before turning to face Kirche.

"Miss Zerbst," She said, "We need reinforcements, and the only possible source of such within reasonable range, is your family."

Kirche paled as she realized what Henrietta was about to ask.

"Miss Zerbst," Henrietta said, "I need you to travel to your family estates, and secure prompt reinforcements."

"I am fallen from favor amongst my family," Kirche said, "They likely will not listen."

"If they have heard of my impending marriage to the Emperor," Henrietta said, "They should find just cause. If not…" She turned to face Cattleya, "I would ask you to travel with her, to act as evidence that the plea for aid is legitimate. At best, you should not be in danger, at worst, they will likely hold you hostage instead, until they hear that Castle Valliere has fallen, either way, you should be safe."

"Princess," Cattleya said, a soft smile falling across her gentle face, "I would go for you if it meant certain death."

Henrietta paused for a moment, struck by the fragile woman's loyalty, and smiled at the middle Valliere child, before turning to the Dragons in (or partway in) the hallway.

"Which of you is faster?" She asked.

Neither answered for a moment, as neither had tested their speed against each other directly.

"Can you magically augment your speed?" Joshua asked, and both Tabitha and Irukuku nodded.

"I cannot," Joshua said, "And with my armor, I am the more able combatant. You should go."

Tabitha nodded, and, along with Irukuku, began to turn towards the exit. Gretchen immediately began to assist Cattleya along towards them, but Kirche decided to go and speak with Joshua before she followed.

"Dar-" She cut herself off, then started again, "Joshua, could I speak with you for a moment?"

Joshua eyed her for a moment, then reached one massive paw up to remove his helmet, so he could meet her gaze directly.

"What is it?" He asked, voice brisk, but not harsh.

"It has troubled me ever since we last spoke," She said, "Why do you say I have no respect for myself?"

"Because you flaunt your body," Joshua said, "And sleep around."

Kirche blinked, more than a little surprised at his bluntness.

"Every time you make yourself intimate, physically or emotionally," Joshua said, "With anybody, you bring your heart close to theirs. When you become intimate so casually, discard it so casually, and treat your body so casually, you demean yourself. If have known women like you, and even been friends with some of them. But I cannot accept a romance with a woman who has so little respect for herself. Your heart and body are precious and wonderful things, and as such should be guarded jealously, and only shared with one who is truly trustworthy."

Kirche had felt anger and hurt begin to form within her, as she heard words like so many others had thrown at her, _especially_ those amongst her family, until the last of Joshua's words. No one had _ever_ before rebuked her for her flirting, or her sleeping around, claiming she was worth _more_ than that. Before, such rebukes had always claimed her behavior as proof of her worthlessness. She didn't know what to make of that.

"Come," Tabitha said, tugging gently on Kirche's elbow, and Kirche allowed herself to be lead off with the emissary group.

Joshua, Siesta, and Henrietta spent a moment watching the others go, while the single guardsman still with Henrietta kept watch past Joshua on the hole in the Keep wall.

"What will you do, Princess?" Joshua said, his deep voice soft with concern.

"I," Henrietta said, "Will be joining the Healers. I am capable of some combat magic, but my primary strength lies in healing."

"For as long as only the Griffons attack," Joshua said, "I will leave you to the protection of your guardsmen. But once the Dragons arrive, if you are right, you will need all the protection you can get."

"I appreciate your concern," Henrietta said, "I hope we both survive this night."

"So do I," Joshua said.

((()))

Louise dreamed. She dreamed of Joshua's world all the more, and this time, in her dreams, she sought answers to how a society and magic could function without the history of Brimir and the Church to order and guide them. She found memory-dreams of the religions of Joshua's world, where before there had been only the reflections, and edges of such things.

Unlike Halkeginia, Joshua's world was rife with a plethora of religions, and they were as varied as they were numerous. Joshua was not familiar with all of them, but he was familiar with most of those with a substantial following, both those that believed in many gods (something that Louise found utterly horrifying), and those that believed in one God.

The torrent of emotions she found attached to the whole issue utterly bewildered her; it was an intense mass of passion and zeal like nothing she had ever sensed before. She found within him an intense faith, a passionate belief in one God, though the memories that related directly to that eluded her, combined with a disgust and revulsion at any organized religion and state that held formally combined authority or power.

As a follower of the Church in Halkeginia, which was utterly entrenched within the power structures of the various Halkeginian kingdoms, this was utterly alien to her, and distressed her so much, that the emotional turmoil woke her up.

((()))

"They've ensorcelled the Princess!" Wardes shouted as he approached the Griffon Knights, "I was unable to discover to which end, but look at what they have done to the Princess' old playmate, my fiancée!"

He raised the bundle of blankets that held Louise, and with a fine bit of manipulation, unwound the bedding, revealing what could have been mistaken for an immature or malformed Dragon, save for the horrifyingly human head at the end of the long, muscular neck. Wardes almost lost his grip when Louise suddenly woke up, and screamed.

It was a deep, keening, tormented sound, wrought with a pain that transcended language or species, and utterly horrifying in every way that Wardes could imagine a scream to be. Wardes thought it was because of whatever magic had been wrought upon his body. In truth, it was because of the dream from which Louise had just awoken, and the sharp agony having her still-changing body move put her through.

The scream echoed through the night.

((()))

Joshua had followed after Karin once Henrietta had departed for the infirmary, and had just reached her when the scream echoed over the castle.

"She has entered the dementia," Joshua rumbled gravely, "In as little as an hour, or as much as a week, the change will be finished, or she will die."

"Tell me the truth, Dragon," Karin growled, staring out over her castle's defenses from atop the central keep, "What have you done to her?"

"Directly," Joshua growled, "Nothing. The magic of my people is transformative, and any who attempt to take it for their own, or connect permanently with it, will be changed. If she survives the change, she will be as I am, a half-breed human. Whatever elements that she has affinity for will no longer be able to harm her directly, and in fact, will only replenish her stamina. It takes skill to control the transformation, but she will also be able to change shape, resuming her human form."

"So I will be able to see my daughter's true form within the week?" Karin demanded harshly.

"No," Joshua said, shaking his large head, "Her body will finish the change within the week, though it is remotely possible it will take longer, as all are different. Her magic will take much longer to finish adjusting, the shortest known time is six months, the longest has been decades. She will not be able to change form until that time has completed, and she can use her magic actively once more."

"Convenient," Karin said, "That you give no way to test your story for years yet to come."

"Only if I am lying," Joshua said, shrugging, "If I am telling the truth, it is in fact, terribly _inconvenient_."

Above, Joshua's HUD revealed that the Griffon Knights were soon to enter effective visual range of the Castle's beacons.

"The enemy nears," He said, bunching his large form back in preparation for flight, "Before battle is joined, I must warn you, though it will take them time to cross the barrier between worlds, my people _will_ come for me, and when they do, you will be held accountable for what you done, if we need to burn all of Tristain to the ground in order to capture or kill you in the process."

Karin turned to look at him for a long moment, but the eye-shields of his helmet revealed nothing, and all his posture revealed was the taut readiness for battle.

"We will speak of this after the battle, Dragon," Karin said, "If we both survive. Stay clear of me during the fight, you will only get in my way."

Then both of their attention was wholly consumed by the enemy.

((()))

Wardes continued West as he broke company with Louise, trying to speak with the girl once her scream trailed off into strangled sobs.

"Louise, my dear," He said, "It is I, your fiancée. What have they done to you?"

It took several repetitions before she seemed to hear him, and her slightly-enlarged eyes focused on him for a long moment, there was nothing but confusion in her eyes, but eventually, recognition dawned.

"Wardes?" She said, her voice rumbling in a way not possible for human vocal chords, "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to rescue you," Wardes said gently, "Are you in pain."

"Yes, my bed feels wrong," Louise said, clearly not fully aware of her surroundings, "Moving hurts."

"I will help," Wardes said, biting back the urge to curse himself for causing his fiancée pain, and strengthening the levitation spell to provide her a flat surface to rest upon, rather than the more efficient grip he had been using, "What happened to you?"

"Mother," Louise said, then trailed off for a moment, her eyes seeing something that was not with them in the here and now, "Mother withdrew me from the Academy, she was angry about my Familiar… Siesta!" She suddenly shouted, "You must bring Siesta, and my Familiar too!"

"I will tell my men to recover them if they can," Wardes said gently, "Is Siesta your handmaiden?"

"Yes," Louise said, her voice rising and becoming more frantic, "But my familiar, you _must_ get my Familiar, mother might _kill_ him…"

"I will try to find your Familiar," Wardes said, "Where is he?"

"I don't know," Louise said, pain and emotional upheaval combining into outright panic, "But he's already fought with Mother twice, and I don't know how badly she injured him the second time, she only lost a hand, and-"

"Shhhh, Louise," Wardes said, lowering himself closer to her still mostly-human face, "I will take care of it. Drink this, it will take care of the pain."

For a moment, Wardes thought Louise would protest, but then she accepted the potion he had offered her, drinking it readily, and within a few moments, the sleeping potion had rendered her unconscious.

"Rest well, my dear," Wardes said, turning his mind back to his clones, "I hope your dreams will be more peaceful than this night, and when you wake, all will be finished."

((()))

Across the battlements of both the inner and outer walls, forty-four light ballistae stood ready, their crews trained expressly for the purpose of engaging airborne targets. At every third emplacement, stood a wind or water mage, ready to raise shields over their own weapon and crew, or either of the flanking positions. On the inner keep another dozen ballistae stood, unmanned as Karin had ordered the battlements of the keep cleared, so that she would not face any danger of friendly fire as she engaged her enemies.

The weapon crews held steady bead on the Griffon Knights as they moved to within visible range, and began to close, but waited patiently for orders to fire; they trusted their commander, and had better firing discipline than literally any other unit in all of Halkeginia.

"GRIFFON KNIGHTS!" Boomed Karin's magically augmented voice, "IF YOU DO NOT STATE THE PURPOSE OF YOUR VISIT, AND REMAND THE TRAITOR WARDES AND MY DAUGHTER TO MY CUSTODY, YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON!"

The Griffon Knights remained silent as they approached, though Karin could now make out two separate copies of Wardes riding with his subordinates.

"They're both clones," Joshua rumbled out, "The real one still flees with Louise."

((()))

The Griffons closed to the distance that Karin judged was the closest that they would come without opening fire. She would know; she had set the training standards for the Tristain mage corps personally.

As they hit the critical point, Karin unleashed the spell she had been preparing since she arrived atop the keep, the spell that had earned her the title 'Heavy Wind.' At a point roughly eight inches to the side, and fifty feet from the front of, the Griffon Knight's formation, Karin's spell took effect, and with an ear-shattering scream, abruptly attracted literally tons of air, causing a hurricane force wind in the surrounding area.

The coalescing mass of air rapidly condensed into a thick, heavy mass nearly a hundred feet across, sucking all of the Griffon Knights into the mass, and nearly ripping Joshua off of the rooftop. The Valliere family retainers were physically moored to the battlements, and weathered the torrent with the ease of experience; none of the castle servants were outdoors to be directly exposed to the whirlwind. Once the spell was completed, the Griffon Knights, to the last man, were entangled within Karin's legendary 'Heavy Wind' spell, a mass of air so thick that moving through it was more like swimming than flying, all of them tumbled and disoriented by the violent rush of air.

"OPEN FIRE!" Karin screamed, and the ballista crews atop the walls began to fire into the mass of disoriented Griffon Knights in short volleys.

The Griffon Knights were not renowned for their battle prowess without reason however, and despite their disorientation, a dozen shields of air and conjured earth sprang to life around them, deflecting many of the ballista volleys, but still, some got through, wounding and killing both the Knights, and their mounts.

Then, as the Knights recovered from their disorientation, the counter-fire began. The initial bursts of fire were disorganized, instinctive attempts to force the enemy to worry about their own defense as well as their offense, and the shield-mages placed about the walls were able to ward off their shots. As order returned to the air corps, however, the mages began to coordinate their fire, and a volley of six timed shots burst past one of the shield mages, and a ballista on the inner wall was destroyed by a blast of flame, its crew killed or wounded.

"KARIN!" Joshua suddenly shouted, "IF I CAN PULL THE MOISTURE OUT OF THE AIR IN THAT MESS, I CAN INCINERATE THEM ALL WITH A SINGLE FLAME SPELL!"

A half dozen of the Griffon Knights immediately responded by conjuring large masses of water, which floated around and alongside them in the near-liquid air. Joshua immediately leapt to the air, growling false-incantations as he used his somewhat inferior ability with water magic to attempt to draw off the conjured water, and began pulling evasive maneuvers as a detachment of the Griffon Knights dedicated themselves to targeting the armored Dragon.

Karin, meanwhile, contemptuously batted aside the spells targeting her, while she maintained her Heavy Wind spell, and began to prepare the second stage of her defense.

((()))

Cattleya, reverse seated on Sylphid, with Tabitha forward of her, and Kirche farther back, the healthier Germanian girl holding the middle Valliere securely, worriedly stared back towards her home over Kirche's shoulder. Though the battle was too far to hear, the flashes of light were visible in the darkness of the deep night.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Cattleya asked.

"Valliere," Kirche said, rolling her eyes, "A generation ago, my family's rivalry with yours nearly came to an end, as my family's strength had grown steadily for nearly a century, while yours remained stagnant due to few births. When your mother married Duke Valliere, she single-handedly restored the balance of power. The Zerbst fought a single skirmish with the Valliere's in which your mother was involved, and our forces have not crossed the border since. If she is not the most powerful mage in Halkeginia, I would hate to meet whoever is."

Cattleya nodded, but held a bit tighter to the redhead in a subconscious attempt to find comfort. She missed Gretchen, and was desperately worried for her sister.

((()))

The rest of the royal guards caught up with Henrietta at the infirmary, and immediately made it the most heavily guarded part of Castle Valliere. Only four of the two score guards were mages, three line, and one triangle; Henrietta would have sent them to aid Karin in the defense, but the Duchess had not asked, and convincing the guards to leave her immediate presence would have been very difficult anyways. She was, at least, able to conscript a dozen of her commoner guards to serve as corpsmen, going out to carry in the wounded who could not bring themselves in.

The healers were surprised when the Princess arrived to assist, but nowhere near as surprised as the commoner assistants were when the first wave of wounded arrived, and Henrietta showed absolutely no compunction about personally stowing a man's entrails back into his belly, then healing the wound so well it left not even a scar. The only attention Henrietta paid to the other healers and attendants, was a trained leader's subconscious sensitivity to whether or not those around her were in danger of breaking out in a panic or other sort of unproductive frenzy. It would not be until much later that she realized the sort of personal loyalty she inspired in her subjects at Castle Valliere that day.

((()))

"Ah, Karin," One of Wardes clones said as it touched down atop the Keep, a healthy distance from the Duchess, "You have aged well."

"Wardes," Karin said, negligently deflecting another pair of attack spells from the mass of Knights above, "Why did you take my daughter?"

"Because she is my fiancée," Wardes replied, "I do care for her, though it has been a long time since I have seen her. That she will bear me heirs capable of Void Magic does not hurt either. What on earth have you done to her body?"

"I don't know what happened to her body," Karin said glaring at the clone of her daughter's kidnapper, "It is some effect of her Familiar's magic, though he claims it is unintentional. Where have you taken her?"

"Such a tragedy," Wardes said, sighing with mock sorrow, "The lone survivor of the Griffon Knights will return to the Palace tomorrow, with the tale of how the treacherous Valliere's have slain the Princess, his beloved fiancée the only survivor he could retrieve from the battle."

"Your story will fall apart when I arrive with the Princess," Karin said harshly, deftly side-stepping an air-lance spell as she spoke.

"Really?" Wardes said, raising an eyebrow mockingly at the older woman, "You are powerful, Heavy Wind, but you are past your prime, and even you cannot fight half of the Royal Griffon Knights, as well as myself, a fellow Square-class mage."

"Really?" Karin said, and for the first time in his entire life, Wardes saw the legendary Karin of the Heavy Wind smile, a feral curling of the lips that showed her teeth as a predator would.

The sight chilled him to the bone, inspiring fear in him on a deeper level than he had ever before encountered in his life, as the most primal parts of his being screamed at him that he was_ going to die_, and there was _absolutely nothing he could do about it_.

In a split-second of panic, the second clone that had been attempting to sneak up behind Karin attacked, but it was already too late.

With a single gesture, Karin unleashed the magical energy she had been building since the moment she completed the casting of her Heavy Wind spell. Like the Heavy Wind spell, it used the absolute maximum of her capacity for magical expenditure in a single spell, a capacity which through relentless training, had only increased with her age. The spell was cast _through_ the link by which she maintained her Heavy Wind spell, and was that spells opposite in almost every way. Where the Heavy Wind spell drew air in, and compressed it together, this spell forced the air to expand and decompress as quickly as the magic behind it could manage. Simultaneous to the release of this spell, Karin stopped maintaining the Heavy Wind spell, releasing the supernatural constraints which held the air in its unnaturally compressed state.

In effect Karin had unleashed a mid-yield concussive bomb directly in the center of the Griffon Knights. The blast, powered by both the depressurization of the first phase of the Heavy Wind spell combination, and the magic of the second, obliterated the Griffon Knights as a fighting force, slaying a dozen of the Line-class mages amongst the knights instantly. The Triangle mages amongst the knights fared somewhat better, their stronger defensive magics shielding them from the worst of the blast, instead leaving them unconscious, and bleeding from the eyes, ears, mouth, and nose as they and their dead or incapacitated mounts fell from the sky. The single member of the Knights who was a Square-class mage, having achieved Square-class just the week before, and not yet told anyone, was the only one to remain conscious. His mount did not, and he was slightly dazed, but still managed to cut what would have been dozens of casualties amongst his unconscious comrades, to less than ten, with hasty levitation spells. For his trouble, he broke his own legs, as he was slow to halt his own fall.

The blast wave, easily strong enough to tear the ballista mounts from the walls, and slay any unshielded man within five hundred feet, did little more than rattle the windows of the Castle, as enchantments specially emplaced to protect against exactly this effect shielded every emplacement on the walls, as well as those within. Waves of concussive force reflecting off of the inside of the castle walls critically injured several men carrying wounded to the infirmary, and killed three of the already-wounded outright, but they were the sole fatalities of Karin's spell amongst the defenders.

The hardest struck by the spell were Joshua, and Wardes two clones. Unlike any other mage in the battle, Joshua had sensed the magical build up, and then release involved in Karin's spell. He was still caught in the middle of evasive maneuvers as he continued to distract the Griffon Knights when the spell went off, unable to dive to cover before it went off, but he still had a moment's warning. In that moment, he cast every thought from his mind, save one:

_My body is Iron._

Joshua was far, _far_ from mastering the skill he was making use of, and in truth, his body only _partially_ became Iron before the force of Karin's spell struck, but combined with his armor, it was enough. Rather than becoming a crushed Dragon plastered across the inside of the castle walls, Joshua was slammed down into the wall, then bounced off and slammed into the top of the very bunker he had been imprisoned in. Neither yielded any more than his armor did, but instead of dead or paralyzed, Joshua was instead merely heavily stunned.

Wardes did not fare nearly so well. Expecting a direct assault from Karin, he had raised his defensive shield's strength primarily to the front, facing the Heavy Wind herself, and when the blast struck at the _top_ of his shield, it crushed it. Wardes was strong enough that had he focused his energies correctly, his shield could have survived the blast altogether, though barely, but instead it was crushed, and he was blasted to the ground, the clone's semi-real spine snapped as it fell.

The second clone, which had been in the middle of casting an attack spell, and thus did not raise its defenses, was instead utterly obliterated.

Karin herself, standing within a circle of protective runes, was completely untouched by the spell, and simply waited for the blast, and the brief counter-force created as the vacuum left by the sudden expansion of air was refilled, to pass before stepping out of the circle towards Wardes rapidly disintegrating clone.

"You are a fool," She said harshly, "For you, your strength, your discipline, was only ever something you desired to have _enough_ of, judging yourself relative to your peers to gauge your strength. You were strong compared to them, but never, _never_ compared to me. Strength is an absolute, and the only truly appropriate measure for any, is 'Am I stronger than _I_ was yesterday?' There has not been a single day passed in the last forty years where the answer to that question for _me_, was 'no.' When I am finished with the Dragon Knights, I will come to the palace with the Princess, and you will _pay_ for your treachery. Pray my daughter still lives, or your death will _not_ be swift."

The clone of Wardes opened its bloody mouth to respond, but Karin severed its head with a simple blade of air, and turned to take stock of the damage to her defenses.

((()))

Atop Sylphid, all three young women twisted around to stare back at the Valliere estate when they heard the thundering retort of Karin's spell.

"That was my mother's spell," Cattleya said softly, then waited for more signs of battle, but none appeared.

"She has defeated the Griffon Knights," Cattleya said, "Now we can only pray she is able to defeat the Dragons as well."

((()))

"Well," Joseph said from where he sat behind Sheffeld, lowering his looking glass, "That was interesting. It is well I came, isn't it?"

"Indeed, master," Sheffeld said, eyes narrowing as the Dragon Knights continued to close with the Castle Valliere, "The Griffons destroyed only a half-dozen of the ballista, and failed to even injure the Heavy Wind. If we had been unaware of such a tactic, and you were not with us, such a tactic may have defeated even this force."

"Indeed," Joseph said, smirking, "You and I will take the Heavy Wind. The others can find the Princess."

Sheffeld nodded, and relayed the orders to the Dragon Knights.

((()))

Joshua shook off the shock that had affected him enough to shift forms, and the physical transformation fully flushed the after-effects of Karin's spell from his system. Taking stock of his immediate surroundings, he swiftly decided that the Duchess would best know what the situation was, and leapt, magically augmenting the leap to the point of flight, up to the battlements of the keep.

"What's the situation?" He asked, landing lightly on his feet near the Valliere.

"We lost a sixth of the ballistae," Karin said, "Most of the Knights were incapacitated, not killed. How long until the Dragon Knights arrive?"

Joshua looked up, allowing his armor's sensors to see for him, and project their findings directly on to his retinas.

"They're less than two miles out," He said, "There are more than two hundred of them. Henrietta thinks they're the Albion Dragon Knights."

"With those numbers," Henrietta spat out, "They must be. Only Albion fields that many Dragons. It must be the Reconquista."

"What can you do against that many Dragons?" Joshua asked.

"It depends," Karin said, "If they remain grouped up as the Griffon Knights did, I can use the exact same trick. If they break up, it becomes a battle of attrition, one which heavily favors them, as eventually, one of them will get an attack through against me. None of my other tricks will be enough against a force of that size. Do you have any tricks you have not yet shown in your fights against me?"

"A few," Joshua said, continuing to stare up at the approaching Dragon Knights, "If they break up into small enough groups, I can close with them. I specialize in close combat."

"I'd noticed," Karin said flatly.

Joshua laughed at that, laughed long and loud, after all, it wasn't like he hadn't tried to close to melee both times they had fought, was it?

"This is going to be ugly," Joshua eventually said, "I should tell you before the fighting begins anew, Henrietta had Tabitha and her familiar fly Kirche and Cattleya out of the castle. My priority will be the survival of Henrietta and Siesta."

Karin nodded sharply in response.

"And mine will be the Princess and my subjects. I will fight the battle, if I lose, you see to it that the Princess makes it away."

Joshua nodded sharply, then leapt off of the Keep, leaving Karin a clear field of fire.

((()))

Henrietta was more than a little relieved when the stretcher-bearers began carrying in nothing but Griffon Knights, and word arrived with them that the Griffon Knights had been defeated, and most were still alive, if substantially injured. She was still worried about what would happen when the Dragons arrived, but was relieved that, at the least, Tristainians were not fighting each other anymore.

Healing anywhere in the head was much more precise and sensitive work than almost anywhere else in the body, but not very demanding as far as magical power went, which played very well to Henrietta's strengths, something else she was grateful for. She supremely doubted the Dragon Knights were approaching with anything other than fell intent, and knew that there would be a great deal of healing needed once battle begun anew.

((()))

Joshua was doing a swift circuit of the inner wall, surveying both it and the outer wall's defenses as best he could on the fly, looking for a particularly weak point that might need his support. Ultimately, it was the entrance to the infirmary in the inner courtyard that caught his attention. Specifically, the sizable mass of guards standing watch outside of it.

"Shit," He said.

((()))

Karin breathed deep as she prepared herself for the renewal of battle. For all that she had maintained and developed her edge constantly since her 'retirement,' until this night, the only battle she had fought in which she had actually felt there was a legitimate threat to her life, had been against Joshua. Even then, the largest part of the threat he had presented, was simply that he possessed so many unknown abilities. Few single opponents could present any real threat to Karin.

Now though, _now_…

This was like the battles of her youth, when the independence of Tristain had been preserved through the efforts of herself, Osmond the Siege, Colbert the Flame Snake, and a spare handful of others who had decimated entire armies by themselves. True, those armies had been mixtures of commoners and nobles, rather than the larger formations of nobles riding flying mounts that formed the core of an army's strength today, but it was _because_ of Karin and her comrades that mage-only formations, trained to support each other tightly, had become common. A force with any other tactical doctrine would simply be annihilated.

This time though, she had no powerful allies to guard her back, though if she'd reacted differently to Joshua, he probably would have been up to the task, and if her husband had been home, he was skilled enough, if not quite so powerful as she. Now though, she would face battle alone; her men would support her as best they were able, but she knew that unless they came in a group as the Griffons had, after one volley, two at best, they would be forced to flee the walls; she had already ordered them to unmoor themselves from their positions to ease that task.

The only wild card on her side was Joshua, but he would make protecting the Princess his priority, and if the Reconquista forces found her, he would also be locked down in defense. Karin could not afford to fall back solely to defend the Princess as well, as that would effectively mean conceding control of the entire castle to the Reconquista, and abandoning what little advantage the ballista teams would give her.

The fierce young warrior within Karin was coming fully awake and alive as true battle loomed before her; she estimated her chances of victory and survival were fifty percent, and such a battle was the most exciting thing she knew in life.

((()))

"Princess," Joshua said, soaring gracefully over the beds of the injured to speak with her, "I need to either move you, or permission to order your guard to move."

"What?" Henrietta said, looking up from the latest man whose eardrums she had been repairing, and gesturing for Siesta to bandage the man's ears, "Why?"

"Your guards standing outside the infirmary is painting a great big target on it," Joshua said, "I doubt the Reconquista will have any compunction about killing every person in here in their attempt to get you."

Henrietta scowled at Joshua's words, not because she resented them, but because she knew they were true.

"There are only half a dozen other healers here," Henrietta said, "Of which I am the least fatigued, as they insist on giving me the lightest work. I will be needed here, or men and women will die."

"I didn't think you'd want to leave," Joshua said, "So tell your men to follow my orders. I'll leave a few here, and establish a false hide for you somewhere else."

"I don't like it," Henrietta said, "But I see the need."

She followed Joshua to the Infirmary's exit, and passed the orders for her men to work with him. Henrietta didn't notice that Siesta had gone with him until she returned to her work, and by that time, it was too late to call her back.

((()))

The commander of Henrietta's guard was quite competent; all it took was for Joshua to explain what he had in mind, and the man organized the entire thing himself. It was just as well, as while Henrietta had not noticed Siesta's movement, Joshua had.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her softly, just far enough away from the guardsmen not to be heard.

"It won't be enough for the Guardsmen to be elsewhere," Siesta said to Joshua, smiling softly up at the faceplate of his helmet, as she could not see his eyes, "They need a Princess to guard."

Immediately grasping what the young maid intended, Joshua disassociated his helm and bent down so he could look her in the eyes.

"Why?" He asked simply.

"Because she is worth it," Siesta said, "You saw her in the infirmary, and in your prison. She will be a worthy ruler, if she lives that long."

Joshua nodded sharply, respect clear in his eyes and face.

"You are a worthy woman," Joshua said, "If we survive, I would like for you to meet my sisters one day."

Siesta smiled bright enough to raise the sun, and for a moment, was too choked up to say anything. Feeling the need, Joshua leaned forward and hugged her, a fierce, brief embrace that lasted only one long moment, before Joshua withdrew, re-donned his helmet, and leapt back up to the wall.

With his armor on, most of the hug had felt like steel, save for where his head had briefly rested beside hers, but it was also the first time had ever seen Joshua initiated a form of physical contact purely intended to express affection, and that was more than enough for her. She took a moment to bask in the warmth and hope that rose in her heart, before turning her attention to the guard commander.

"Captain," She said, "I am here to serve as a body double."

((()))

The Dragon Knights split up well outside the effective range of ballistae, and attacked in groups of twelve. The instant that the larger formation split, Karin began using overpowered long distance spells to attack the various formations, attempting to disrupt the groups as much as kill the individual members.

Even at her prodigious rate of fire, she managed only a half a dozen spells before a single Dragon traveling alone demanded her attention, by diving directly towards her. Battle-honed instincts screamed at her that this was one of the enemy's prime combatants, and so she sent a square-class cluster of air-lances at the Dragon, intending to remove him from the fight preemptively.

To her considerable surprise, the spell was disrupted and dispersed before it struck home. The only mage she had ever manage something similar before was Joshua, and he had not been able to do so to her more powerful spells. Remembering that for all the thus-far unique abilities Joshua had displayed in his fights with her before, he at the least still _claimed_ he had more, and whoever she fought now might be even more dangerous. Rather than attack an enemy with unknown ability as the Dragon continued to approach, Karin fired off another series of overpowered lances at formations of Dragons vectoring to attack the walls of her castle.

She was a little surprised that the Dragon rider did not attack her on its final approach, but surprise turned to shock, which was almost immediately supplanted by hard anger, when she saw who rode the Dragon.

"Joseph," She growled, "King of Gallia. So _you_ are behind this."

"Yes," Joseph said, wearing a slightly mad grin, "It was simply too good of an opportunity to waste, the Princess of Tristain, another Void mage, and the Gandalfr all in one place. Best to take them out before your darling little daughter could realize her power, no?"

Karin responded to Joseph's words with a lightning spell.

((()))

All across the castle, the Dragons attacked. The castle's defenders had drilled for situations where they were being overwhelmed by superior airborne forces, and responded with precision. One man on each crew kept an eye out for signs of active spellcasting, while another aimed and held ready to fire, and the last member of the crew readied their ballista for their departure.

Dragon Knights attacked each weapon emplacement in pairs, in some cases the watchmen was able to spot the Knights preparing to cast, and call for fire. In others, the gunner judged he had a good enough shot and fired on his own initiative. In still others, the Knights fired first, though the ballista crews still managed return fire, even in these circumstances. Fire loosed, the majority of ballista crews abandoned their weapons, only those with shield mages guarding them directly remaining. Some of the ballista bolts were off target; most were not. To a man, every mage targeted by the bolts managed a shield of some sort or another before they struck; a very few evaded as well.

All of those who did not evade were fatally surprised when enchantments on the bolts caused them to smash through any shield less than Square-class, striking through to slay almost a score of Dragon Knights.

Return fire obliterated most of the ballista emplacements, killing more than a few of the crewers, what few were not destroyed by spellfire, were instead attacked directly by the Dragons, at the direction of their riders.

These Dragons, and most of _their_ riders, were also slain when the ballista emplacements exploded the instant they were touched.

In the exchange, a tenth of the Dragon Knights were slain, and two score armsmen were either killed or critically injured. Only seven ballista emplacements remained, each of which fired only a single additional shot, then their crews evacuated before the Dragon Knights could come about for a second pass. Only two of the shots scored meaningful hits, the more wary Dragon Knights now fighting more evasively.

As the Dragon Knights began to come around for a second pass, fighting erupted atop the central keep, with high-powered spells being hurled about, few striking their targets, and many slashing out amongst the other combatants. The Knights withdrew from the immediate vicinity of the keep, and instead pressed their attack on the walls, picking off a few of the fleeing armsmen, and beginning to direct spellfire against the towers at the corners of the walls.

For the first time since the battle began, archers and crossbowmen opened fire through the arrow slits in the towers. Having expected their foes to show their full abilities earlier in the battle, the attack caught the Dragon Knights completely off guard, just as Karin had intended for it to. Even caught off guard, the Knight's passive magical shields rendered them effectively immune to such small-scale non-magical weaponry; the defenders, however, did not target the Knights, but their mounts.

All of the archers and crossbowmen aimed for the Dragon's necks, and while only three scored lethal blows, dozens of arrows pincushioned the necks of a score of dragons. While hard scales and thick muscles protected the more vital portions of the Dragons necks, the very nature of the muscular appendages meant that they were particularly vulnerable to movement further aggravating wounds, and even on a creature the size of a full-grown Halkeginian Dragon, it did not take a large wound to the jugular vein to cause critical blood loss.

The instant after the first volley ended, steel shutters slammed into place over the firing slits, enchanted to resist being taken control of by earth mages. In a few places, massed return fire from the Griffon Knights destroyed the shutters, but the defenders had already fled from the firing chambers, moving into the deeper interior of the walls. With the towers abandoned, the only remaining defenders stationed outside the castle were royal guardsmen stationed around the entrances of the inner keep.

The Dragon Knights immediately set to attack the Guardsmen, recognizing their insignia and what their presence around the keep signified. The Royal guardsmen, however, did not earn their positions easily, and for all that the Valliere armsmen were actually better trained and more well-disciplined, the difference was slight, and the Guardsmen were far, _far_ better equipped.

Most of the guard were equipped with a sword and shield, the sword enchanted for barrier penetration, the shield enchanted to serve as a deflective barrier, though for the barrier to last long, it would require skilled use in redirecting, rather than absorbing spellfire. Combined, they were tools unlikely to allow a single guardsmen to defeat a competently trained battlemage, but they were sufficient to make him a _threat_, and a potentially lethal distraction while the mages within the Guard also attacked.

Under fire from the descending Dragon Knights, the Royal Guardsmen immediately retreated into the keep, though a few were cut down before they could fully withdraw into cover. It was as the Dragon Knights began to land and dismount before the Keeps entrances, that Joshua struck.

Joshua lunged out of the murder hole he had been hiding within, coming down on a landing Dragon Knight sword first. His sword slid cleanly between the man's second and third vertebrae, a better strike than he'd hoped for, which allowed Joshua to cleanly decapitate the man before leaping onward to another target. His second target took his sword between the ribs under her right shoulder, and disentangling his blade from the corpse made enough of a ruckus to attract the attention of the other nine Knights in that group, and he lost the element of surprise.

Rather than jump for a new target, Joshua seized the Dragon's reigns, and yanked hard, causing the creature to rear, and unintentionally shield him from the Dragon Knights' first barrage of spells with its body. Gauging the force behind his assailants spells by how hard they hit the Dragon beneath him, Joshua concluded that even twice the represented force would not be a significant threat to him through concussion alone, and shifted forms.

This time, he made no effort to suppress the intense flare of power and light that accompanied his shift in form, flash-blinding his opponents as the now-dead Dragon fell beneath his own enlarged form. Several of the Albion Knights had both the presence of mind, and the situational awareness, to throw reasonably accurate spells at his last known position, but they were throwing spells intended to take down a man-sized target, and the force behind them, once distributed by his armor, was barely enough to jostle him.

Up close and personal, with his Dragon-sized sword, it took him less than six seconds to carve the survivors to bloody flinders, the reach and force of his blade too much for them to protect against without sight.

His work with that squad done, Joshua shifted forms again, and set off in search of a new batch of targets.

((()))

Siesta had never before in her life worn a dress so fine; that it fit nearly perfectly was even more surprising, though she did suppose she was very close to the Princess size, perhaps an inch taller. One of the Guardsmen-mages had used a spell to recolor her hair, and after tousling it a little, she did bear quite a resemblance to Henrietta, save for the shape of her eyes.

Siesta had expected a disguise would be necessary when she volunteered to serve as a decoy, what she had not expected was how _boring_ it would be. Secreted away in the central most chamber of the inner keep, a small knitting room, she was completely isolated from the battle, save for the sporadic slight tremor from a spell large enough to shake the entire castle. Somehow, the apparent peace made knowing that blood was being shed outside so much worse.

((()))

Joshua managed to effect a second ambush on one of the descending groups of Dragon Knights before they solidified their position on the ground, and began pressing into the castle interior. Within the castle's corridors, the fighting bogged down to a slow, bloody grind. In the walls interior passages, the Valliere armsmen used their intimate knowledge of the castle's interior, as well as traps and training for this exact kind of circumstance to heavily blunt the Dragon Knight's vastly superior number of mages. The results of Karin's intense training and preparation were telling, in that the casualty ratios were not completely one-sided, but the Reconquista's magical advantage still forced the defenders to continually give ground.

Things were vastly different within the inner keep. Whereas Karin had trained her armsmen to fight defensively, and safeguard their own lives as they fought, in order to preserve themselves as a fighting force through and beyond any one battle, the Royal Knights had been trained to aggressively slay enemy mages before they could get within attack range of the Royal Family. Three dozen Royal Guardsmen stood in layered defense of the keep, and nearly a hundred dismounted Dragon Knights invaded, acting in groups of twelve, less amongst those that had already sustained casualties.

The Guard had been trained primarily to fight within enclosed spaces, such as the Royal Palace, tactical doctrine dictating that the Dragon or Manticore Knights provide royal protection on the battlefield. The Dragon Knghts were trained to fight for aerial superiority, or attack ground-based mages and commoner infantry. While the Royal Guard lay ambushes, played with misdirection tactics, and engaged with a siege mentality, the Dragon Knights attacked in a head-long rush, with a mentality bent to using speed and striking power to overwhelm the enemy before they could strike back.

The Dragon Knights blitzed into, and through ambush after ambush, clashing in bloody and incredibly brief struggles, the Dragon Knights winning all but a handful of engagements through force of numbers and magic. Every engagement involved the complete eradication of one side, and the Royal Guard did not allow a single engagement to pass where they did not slay at least one of the Dragon Knights. Despite their magical and numerical superiority, less than four dozen of the Dragon Knights survived when they finally broke past the Guard to reach the core of the keep where Siesta had been concealed.

When they breached the knitting room she waited within, Siesta said nothing, simply sitting and staring at them with her eyes as wide open as she could, to conceal their slanting shape as best she was able.

For a long moment the Albion Knights stared back.

Then their leader took the top of her head off with a single wind spell.

"More spine to her than I would have thought," He ground out as they turned to leave, "It takes a real Noble to stare death in the face like that."

((()))

Joshua was practically snarling with frustration. The Dragon Knights were good, good enough that killing them was difficult, and they might have been able to kill him if they'd managed to cut his mobility, even through his armor, and this forced him to fight like a skirmisher. He slipped in and out of the fights between the castle's defenders around the infirmary, slaying enough to turn the tide of battle either in the Valliere armsmen's favor, or bring them closer to a draw.

He held a decided advantage in his defense of the Princess, as he could feel the magical presence of every mage on the battlefield, though with so many it became somewhat muddled, and could track every engagement in the corridors around the infirmary easily. He ended the Dragon Knights few attempts to approach the infirmary from the outside _very_ bloodily, and they very quickly learned not to engage him on the ground, in the open, as it played to all of his strengths.

Similarly, he had learned not to engage them in the corridors alone, as doing so played to _their_ strengths, numerical superiority and extensive training in fighting as a cohesive unit. He could disrupt between one and three spells that targeted him with his own magic before they would get one through, and word had gotten around amongst the Dragon Knights to batter the man in gunmetal armor away with blunt force, rather than try to slay him outright.

But while he could readily keep track of the threat posed to the Princess, he could do nothing about the threat posed to _Siesta_, as the young maid was not a mage, and thus had no magical presence for him to track. All he could sense from the inner keep was a rapidly-shifting mass of magical presences, the number of them rapidly decreasing as time passed.

The first sign Joshua received that the battle in the keep had gone one way or another, came when all active casting within the keep _stopped._ It took him more than a minute to notice, as he was hardly unoccupied himself, but once he had the attention to spare, he could feel all of the surviving mages within the keep moving towards the exits, and the Knights fighting within the walls also began to retreat.

Whatever they had done when they found her, Joshua knew, they _had_ found her.

((()))

Karin's battle against King Joseph of Gallia, and his familiar, Sheffeld, had long since exceeded the limited space of the keep's battlements. Sheffeld was using an array of powerful magical artifacts to attack Karin from behind Joseph's shield, a shield that Karin had been unable to pierce no matter what spell or amount of power she used. Piercing spells, bludgeoning spells, lightning spells, all of them were dealt with in precisely the same way; distorted, disrupted, and dispersed.

It had taken Karin less than a minute to realize that whatever Joseph was doing bore only a superficial resemblance to the dispelling effect Joshua had exhibited in his fight with her, and that her attacks had no chance of piercing it. The instant that she had realized that, she had switched from fighting offensively, to fighting defensively, and doing everything she could to conceal that fact.

Joseph and Sheffeld were both skilled warriors, it was obvious to her, and would probably have trounced most square-class mages in a duel, but they were still an order of magnitude beneath her in skill and raw power. She could find no other conclusion, save that Joseph was indeed a void mage, and it was with that sacred element that he was able to defeat her every attempt at attack. So, instead, she maneuvered herself across the battlements of her castle, evading Sheffeld's attacks deftly, and probing Joseph's defenses, looking for a weakness.

It took he five seconds to find one, but she spent two minutes flitting about the battlements as she exchanged spellfire with Joseph and Sheffeld, making sure that the Gallian and his familiar were actually oblivious enough to have missed it themselves before attempting to use it. Once she concluded that Sheffeld and Joseph both, without a doubt, had both missed the flaw in their defenses, she resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and attacked.

Karin cast two spells simultaneously, the first a lightning blast directly targeting the King of Gallia, the second a lance-and-hammer spell designed to first pierce, and then bludgeon, a target into submission. The second spell, however, was cast at the stones directly in front of Joseph, just out of range of his shield. Momentarily blinded by the blast of lightning, Joseph failed to see the second spell in time to react to it; his familiar, Sheffeld, did. Sheffeld hurled herself in front of her master, and when the spell slammed into the stone, fracturing it then blasting the fragments forward, her moderately-armored body absorbed the blow.

Joseph suffered only from having his familiar's body slammed into his chest and face; Sheffeld suffered the effects of eighty pounds of stone shrapnel ramming into her skull, chest, abdomen, legs, and arms, tearing bloody holes in every part of her body except for her neck.

She died instantly.

((()))

Louise dreamed. Her dreams this time, driven by her own internal conflict, gravitated towards Joshua's own memories of conflict. The first few memories she dreamed through were vague recountings of arguments between Joshua and his parents, friends, and younger twin sisters.

Then Joshua's memories of the war his people were in began.

It started with an explosion on the surface, on the field one of his people's flotillas of airships was moored over, killing hundreds of men, women, and children, including Joshua's parents. Every member after that one, was streaked through with grief, and Louise watched as Joshua changed from a sharp young man training to be a pilot and technician, to a warrior piloting a war machine larger than any golem Louise had ever seen.

The war was both terrifying in its scope, and horrifying in how impersonal it was. Weapons that struck across entire continents, infantry that wore so much armor not an inch of their flesh was visible, aircraft, vehicles and ships that were largely run by machines, with only a handful of human crew, and sometimes no crew at all. Physically, the war was destructive like nothing Louise had ever seen, tearing apart landscapes and cities with intensely powerful weapons. In terms of human death, the war was startlingly one-sided, as aside from a spare handful of ambushes and the initial attack that had killed Joshua's parents.

In the end, it was a war of petty men holding grudges attempting to reach farther than they were capable, but as it turned to guerilla tactics, the war extended from months into years, the aggressors turning to more and more vicious tactics as their situation became progressively more bleak. Eventually, two years into the war, Louise came across a memory she immediately wished she hadn't. One of the enemy's more powerful battlemages, a man who held a particular hatred for Joshua's race, was part of a strike team that attacked an allied nation that was hosting the children of Joshua's migrant nation while their fleet went to war, breaking into one of the complexes that housed the children. The boys were all killed, the girls raped, some so violently they were killed as well, and a recording of it all was sent to Joshua's nation.

The enemy battlemage specifically set aside time to personally violate Joshua's sisters, and mocked him personally on the recording. Added to the grief that underwrote every memory from the beginning of the war, pain, rage, and _guilt_ like nothing Louise had ever encountered in her life assaulted her mind, and she desperately tried to escape her dream, but the potion that had put her to sleep denied her escape. She watched as Joshua entered every battle thereafter with a brutality that frightened her, with many of his allies sharing his vengeful spirit. The war, which had prior to the attack bogged down as the enemy struck from concealment and always fled when they could, quickly turned again, as most of the nations which had tolerated Joshua's enemies before, now joined the hunt, and Joshua's nation declared war on the few that would still hide them.

Three times Joshua personally faced his sister's rapist on the battlefield, once forcing the enemy to retreat, greviously wounded, twice only surviving due to the arrival of allies. After each engagement, Joshua attempted to speak with his younger sisters, who were yet only twelve, but they refused to speak with, or even _look_, at any man, even their brother. Each time they rebuffed him, Joshua's anger grew, but his guilt grew even more.

It all came to an end the final time Joshua confronted the battlemage, in one of what was shaping up to be the final few engagements of the war, beginning the battle each in massive machines of war, and after almost five minutes of intense combat, ending the fight with Joshua driving his sword through the man's armored chest. The blow pushed the man through a shimmering green portal, Joshua following him through. It was then that she, for the first time, saw _herself_ through Joshua's eyes, and realized abruptly that she had summoned the Knight _directly_ from the battlefield where he killed the rapist.

It was in the moments where her semi-lucid mind tried to wrap around the emotional consequences of this, that Sheffeld was killed.

((()))

As an intrinsic matter of how magic functioned in Halkeginia, when one host of Void Magic, be they mage or familiar, was killed, the Void power imbued in them would move on, to seek a new host. Thus, when Sheffeld died, the Void moved on.

However, something interfered with the normal course of events. Louise Francoise de la Blanc de la Valliere, already possessing a five-fold, though mostly undeveloped, affinity for Void, was in the terminal stages of a magical metamorphosis where her Halkeginian magic fused with that of the Dragon-Blooded from Joshua's world. Louise was also less than ten miles from Castle Valliere when Sheffeld died, and her magically saturated body acted as a lightning rod for the released Void Magic, the power of the Myozitherirn, grounding it.

The magic of the Myozitherirn, however, was the magic of a Familiar, not a Magus, and refused to bond with Louise, even in her heavily altered form, and instead forced her body to act as a conduit to create a summoning portal, and bring in a new familiar.

In the fraction of a second between the Myozitherirn's magic entering her body, and forcing the portal open, the excess magic stressing her body to the limit, then pushing it over the threshold, into the final stage of transformation.

A Void Explosion an order of magnitude more powerful than anything Louise had ever conjured before detonated, with her body as the epicenter. Wardes, less than three feet away, was instantaneously slain and atomized. The blast battered the forest beneath them, snapping branches, felling small trees, frightening large animals, and slaying small ones.

When the smoke cleared, a pink-furred Dragon was falling from the sky, a shimmering green portal descending parallel to her.

((()))

End of Chapter 6.

((()))

AN: Because I'm not cruel, I'll tell you this about Siesta; healing magic in Halkeginia is potent stuff, and a human being can, sort of, survive while missing most of what is above their eyes. Of course, what kind of survival that _is_, and if it's worth having, is something many people debate.

Also, a note on dispelling effects; I have Joseph using a defensive variation of the Void dispel effect in this chapter; what Joshua uses is very different. In the world he originates from, unless your opponent is vastly more powerful than you, it is _very_ easy to interrupt an ordered flow of magic by attacking it with the same element of magic. This doesn't stop someone from, say, violently slamming you with a blast of air, but it would disrupt a careful air-based levitation effect. In essence, you're taking a magical effect that works because of an ordered shape, flow, and distribution of magic, then messing it up so that instead there's a disordered shape, flow, and distribution of magic. The magic will still do something, just not what it was originally intended to. Void dispel, on the other hand, simply tears a spell apart and nullifies it altogether.

Finally, if it wasn't clear by this point, I'm editing some details of the ZnT source material to suit my purposes. This seems to be pretty standard for ZnT crossover fanfiction, but I figured I'd make it clear that it was deliberate, in case anybody was wondering.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: I originally would have made this part of the last chapter, but 20k words was enough, and I was getting burned out, so I posted that. This feels a bit short to me, but 7k words ain't bad.

((()))

Chapter 7.

((()))

The moment Louise's body was struck by the surge of Void power released when Sheffeld died, was the first moment since Louise had kissed Joshua the day he arrived that the power within her was greater than the power within him. In that moment, the flow of magic between the two reversed, and if it had come months earlier, it may have aborted the transformation Joshua's magic had wrought upon her body, but now, it was too late. What it _did_ do, was overcome Joshua's resistance to heat, and with the magic-shredding properties of the Void, tore apart not only the surface of his hand, but also a portion of his magical essence and re-formed it as that of the Gandalfr.

The sheer physical agony was such that Joshua screamed in pain for the first time since the day of his sister's rape. By the time he recovered, the surviving Dragon Knights had retreated into the air above the castle, removing the immediate threat to the Princess, and clearing the way into the keep.

((()))

Louise fell, her large, pink, furred, bewinged body sinking gracelessly through the air, accompanied in its drop by a luminescent green disk. A green disk which suddenly suffered a violent spasm, then a distortion, before expanding abruptly to more than three times its initial size, with a sound like breaking glass. A moment later, a figure wearing extremely thick armor stepped through the portal, and began to fall as well. After less than two seconds of uncontrolled fall, thrusters on the back, heels, and toes of the armor fired, bringing the fall under control, then braking it. As its descent began to slow, the figure grabbed the falling pink Dragon by the base of her wings, checking her fall as well as its own.

A burst of electromagnetic radiation passed back through the portal, bearing a message for those on the other side.

((()))

"There's an unconscious young Dragon-Blood here," The scout's voice said softly, her whisper unnecessary, but still present as a result of the psychology of stealth, "Portal seems to be anchored to her. I've got the Captain's beacon about eighteen clicks out; stressed but still combat-capable."

The inhabitants of the 'op room,' which was by force of circumstances simply one of the armories aboard the gunship _Perjury's Ruin_, all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Activate the relay," Jonas Quint, the Commander in charge of the operation said.

"Yes sir," The scout replied.

((()))

Eighteen kilometers from where Louise was, more slowly now, falling through the air, Captain Joshua N'bara was receiving the first radio hail since he had entered Halkeginia.

"N'bara," A familiar voice called, "This is Commander Quint. Sitrep."

"Hot combat zone," Joshua said as he rushed into the inner keep of Castle Valliere, "Rivaling factions in pre-industrial tech magic-based society in conflict, have allied with defending force."

"We've got reinforcements scrambling as we speak," Quint said, "Gate aperture is six meters, though stability may be an issue, and the war over here is over, tell me what you need."

"Start with a squad of VTOL spec'd for close air support and counter-gunship combat," Joshua said, breathing hard as he traced the bloody leavings of battle deeper into the keep, "Then as much of a full fabrication array as you can get, followed by Fast Assault, then Artillery, then Assault mechs in fire team strength as you are able. Local magical system has fundamentally different capabilities, such as water to healing, air to lightning, and is based on five elements, earth, water, air, fire, void. Same-element spell disruption techniques viable, and locals do not appear to be able to sense like elements without active spellcasting at short ranges."

"What are our relations to the locals?" Quint asked.

"Either war, or allies," Joshua said, "Depending on if I'm successful in protecting the Royal Heir."

"Reinforcements are crossing now," Quint said, "Final urgent issue, the gate appears to be linked to a pink-furred Dragon Blood. Who is she?"

"Louise Valliere, third daughter of a local Duke," Joshua said, jumping over the dismembered corpse of a Royal Guardsmen, "She accidentally initiated transformation when she came into contact with me, and is under my personal protection. Is the transformation complete?"

"Yes," Quint said, "We'll look after her. Check in as soon as the situation is no longer so hot."

"Affirmative," Joshua said, "N'bara out."

((()))

"Alright people," Quint said, turning to face the handful of officers in the room with him, "You heard him, let's get a fabber kit going, ASAP."

A few sharp nods were all the response offered, and more than was really needed, as his subordinates were already about their business. Commander Quint's gaze turned towards the hatch that the shimmering green portal now stood outside of, the pair of gate-mages forcing it to remain open, and the pair of slightly-inhuman girls sitting on the in front of the hatch, straining against its pull. It took only a few short steps to reach them, and he crouched down beside the pair to whisper into their slightly-enlarged and furry ears.

"Hey, Laura, Brianna," He said, "I just talked with your brother, he's in a fight, but doesn't sound like it puts him in any real danger. Been hobnobbing with royalty, apparently."

Laura was the only one of the pair to respond, which didn't surprise Quint, as Brianna appeared to be the gate's target, and was fully occupied with resisting its pull on her magic.

"Can we talk with him?" Laura asked sadly, looking up at the larger, and taller, officer.

"Not a good idea," Quint said regretfully, "He's in a pretty hot situation, wouldn't want to distract him. I told him to call back as soon as things clear up on the ground over there."

He paused for a moment, hesitating briefly before continuing.

"If you look out the hatch," He said, gesturing towards the translucent portal, and the VTOL gunship approaching it, "You'll see some of what we're sending in to support him."

Quint wasn't sure if his recommendation was ultimately a good idea or not, as the girls could either find the amount of firepower being sent to support their brother encouraging, or if they thought about what might cause _need_ for such firepower, it could be worrying. When the first VTOL passed through the portal from the opposite side, and they could _see_ the interior as it moved through, including the _pilot's _interior, he decided it was _definitely_ a bad idea.

((()))

When Joshua found Siesta's body, he came within a hair of completely losing control of his emotions. It took a great deal, however, to crack through a decade and a half of training in emotional control, and he clawed down the rising anger until he could confirm her condition.

He stood at the entrance to the knitting chamber, in a pool of blood that was still draining from the corpses littered about it. From where he stood, it was difficult to differentiate where the blood from those who had died outside the room ended, and where the blood from Siesta's body began. There was certainly enough for her to have bled out, but as he forced himself to a moment of stillness, he was able to see that she was still breathing. That was all the impetus he needed to swiftly cross the room, and inspect her body more closely.

That her forehead was not entirely present had been visible from the door, but from up close, he could see the interior of his head, and he lost control of his stomach. Unfortunately, he was too horrified by what he saw to physically or magically remove his helmet, and ended up vomiting inside of its sealed interior. Fortunately, ripping his helmet off and cleaning his face and mouth distracted him from what he'd seen, and once what little had remained in his stomach was expelled, he was able to focus and look back at the young maid's mangled head.

_At least the cauterization has kept her from bleeding out_, Joshua thought bitterly, _What's left of her, anyway._

Little positive could be said about Siesta's condition, a wind/flame spell had been used on her, aimed slightly upward by the mage who had cast it, as seated her head was slightly higher than his wand-hand at waist level. Her head had been tilted slightly back to meet the mage's gaze, and consequently, when the spell had struck struck her just above her eyebrows, it had sliced off most of her frontal lobes, as well as cauterized her brain tissue, and seared off a fair portion of her hair. Between the parts of her head and brain that had been destroyed outright, and the damage done by the spell's heat, all higher brain functions had instantly been destroyed.

More simply put, most of her brain was cooked. Due to the placement and angle of the spell, however, apparently her brain stem and spinal column had been untouched, leaving most autonomic body functions intact, which meant that _physically_ she was not dead, nor in any immediate danger, as the cauterization had stopped the bleeding.

His physical inspection of Siesta's wound complete, Joshua found himself again struggling for emotional control. He had seen worse wounds before, generally of the sort that split a body in half, but never on allies. In modern warfare, due to the degree of protection his people employed for all soldiers, anything likely to adequately penetrate combat armor left nothing but a corpse; seeing such a wound on a _still living_ body, especially an unarmed non-combatant, was more than he was prepared to deal with.

So, for now, he didn't. He shoved aside the revulsion and grief, put his anger on a leash, and placed his left hand on the hilt of his sword. The runes of the Gandalfr burned to life on the back of his gauntlet, and Joshua felt _power_ flow through him.

((()))

For the first time since the battle had begun, Karin saw Joseph _angry_, something she took considerable personal satisfaction in. There had been no more words since she had killed his companion, just extremely rapid spellfire, and increasingly angry snarls from the king of Gallia. An unusually skilled square-class mage, Joseph was proving himself capable of holding an active defensive spell, and casting offensively at the same time. In Karin's experience, about half of square-class mages learned the control necessary to cast two spell simultaneously, and doing so generally put them well beyond the effective reach of most triangle-class mages.

Against Karin herself, his single-spell offensives were, _literally_, laughable. Especially as he seemed to lack Void-based offensive spells, as her own shield and counter-spell efforts were quite effective against his wind-based attacks. That she still could not pierce _his_ defenses, and he had taken to the air to prevent a repeat of her earlier indirect strike was ultimately irrelevant to her, as she was confident he would exhaust himself long before she tired. Karin was far more worried about the Dragon Knights that had taken to the air above the castle, as even with their numbers reduced by half or more, there were more than enough to pose a threat to her, or simply wear her out.

Just as her thoughts were turning towards concern for the Princess's welfare, they were interrupted by the appearance of Joshua N'bara at her side.

"Duchess," He said harshly, his voice tight with restrained emotion, "The Princess is dead. Who commanded this strike?"

Karin gestured towards Joseph, and opened her mouth to speak, but Joshua was already gone.

((()))

Joseph of Gallia was no fool, and was _far_ from uninformed. When he saw the armored man at Karin's side leap across the gap between the outer and inner wall without enhancement from a spell, runes glowing on his left hand, he put two and two together. He knew what the four different Void Familiars were capable of, and that the Valliere girl had summoned a human familiar. What was approaching him could only be the Gandalfr, and he wanted _no part_ in fighting both the Heavy Wind and the Gandalfr at the same time.

Already airborne, Joseph called out for his Dragon, and fled into the sky.

((()))

Joshua reached the inner keep with inhuman speed, but Joseph had already fled beyond ready striking distance, and it would be near-suicide for him to pursue the man when he had more than eighty Dragon Knights moving in escort.

Instead, he hurled his sword at the retreating Dragons, and _screamed_.

((()))

Louise woke with a snarl, emotions not her own flooding through her mind, and forcing her into unpleasant consciousness. Her body jerked as she instinctively tried to feel out her surroundings, and instead nearly fell. Taking a cautious breath, Louise stilled herself, and forced the emotions down, as Joshua had taught her. Then she turned her focus to what her senses told her of the world around her, and came to a startling realization.

For the first time in months, she was not experiencing pain, a drug-induced high, or the numbness a healer could grant her. Louise took a _long_ moment to simply revel in the lack of pain, before opening her eyes and turning her attention to the outside world. The first thing she saw, was a brilliant green portal a dozen yards in front of her, with a flying metal construct emerging from it. Initially, it made little noise, but as more of it emerged from the portal, a pair of screaming pods mounted at its midsection emerged, visibly venting heat as they propelled air downward through them. Louise's eyes widened as the construct continued to close with her, before it cleared the portal completely, and rose away from her.

A voice sounded from behind her, and Louise tore her attention away from the shimmering green portal. She discovered, to some distress, that she was actually resting on top of another flying construct, identical in every way she could perceive to the one that had just come through the portal in front of her. Standing beside and slightly behind her on its metal hull was a large, armored figure that bore a passing resemblance to Joshua's armor, if it had been scaled up five-fold in bulk and weight. The figure spoke again, waited a moment, and then spoke again, though this time she could understand.

"Are you Louise Valliere?" The figure asked.

"Yeths," Louise said, then frowned and stared down her snout, trying to figure out why her voice had come out mangled.

Then she realized that the fact she _had_ a snout was probably involved. A quick inventory revealed that her limbs were yet larger than they had last been, though her joints seemed to have regained full functionality. Also, her tail was longer than the rest of her, and she had _wings_ now. Also, looking over her shoulder had become _much_ easier with how long and flexible her neck now was. The transformation, Louise realized, was finished, and she was now a healthy, if rather small, Dragon.

"Ahem," The figure behind her said, and this time Louise paid enough attention to successfully identify the armored soldier as a she, "You are Louise Valliere then?"

Rather than risk an untrustworthy vocal mechanism, Louise just nodded.

"Right," The soldier said, "I've received word that you are under Captain N'bara's personal protection, and are the daughter of the local nobility. We're headed towards the Captain's position now, ETA is approximately four minutes."

Louise was not entirely sure what an 'eeh-tee-ay' was, but gathered the gist of the soldier's intent, and nodded again, looking around as she did so. In her continuing series of discoveries about her new condition, and the conditions of the world around her, she now found that the construct she was laying on was not simply flying, but flying at considerable speed towards the Castle Valliere. They were also flying low, barely clearing the treetops, and when an enormous cargo crate emerged and fell into the forest below, Louise saw why.

((()))

Feeling tired, _far_ too tired, Joshua carefully and slowly sat down on top of the keep, and took a deep, precisely controlled breath. By the time the breath was fully exhaled, Karin had reached him, and was staring at him pointedly.

"The Princess is not dead," Joshua said roughly, "Siesta volunteered to play body double, and is now missing part of the top of her head."

Karin nodded sharply, then turned to watch the retreating forces of Reconquista as they slipped off into the night.

"She served honorably," Was all Karin said, but Joshua did not respond; he had cut off his helmet's external speakers, and was using his comm.

"N'bara here," He said, "Situation has cooled, enemy is in retreat."

"Roger," Came Quint's prompt response, "The VTOL's report a large group of airborns flying south south-west from your position, shall I order pursuit?"

"With extreme prejudice," Joshua said harshly, "This attack came with no declaration of war, was for the intent of assassination, and involved traitors."

((()))

Aboard the lead gunship, Commander Jaquelyn Chung received the order to engage, which she immediately passed along to her squad-mates.

The _Hummingbird_ VTOL Gunship was a nuclear powered attack craft built around a doctrine of zero dependency on consumable resources. Towards this end, it mounted a pair of heavy anti-vehicle lasers mounted on either side of its nose as its primary armament, had a functionally unlimited fuel life, an extensive array of small point-defense lasers capable of killing unarmored humans or engaging small anti-air missiles, and an expectation of heavy enchanting for durability in its frame and light armor. In structure, it resembled a tablespoon, with the cockpit and lasers mounted in the head of the spoon, its primary engine pods mounted just aft of the join between spoon head and handle, and a third engine pod built into the end of the spoon's handle. Its name came from its extreme maneuverability, as the rotating engine pods had enough power and freedom of movement for it to move like its namesake. It required only a pilot to crew, though could also fit a weapons officer or passenger under cramped conditions. Four magnetic clamps were built into its ventral hull, and another six on its ventral, four of which were mounted along its spine. In case its laser mounts simply were not enough, missile and bomb payloads, or even gun pods, could be mounted on these hard points, as well as more mundane equipment such as cargo modules or construction equipment, though non-military modules tended to be heavy and non-aerodynamic, degrading its mobility substantially when mounted.

The seven free _Hummingbirds_ of Chung's squadron had all of their dorsal hardpoints equipped with missile mounts, two of their dorsal hardpoints equipped with gun pods, and the final two equipped with small 'long deployment' cargo modules, containing commonly-needed spare parts, maintenance tools, and some spare ammunition for the missile and gun mounts. The spare cockpit space was filled not with a passenger or weapons officer, but the pilot's personal gear, equipment, and some of their personal effects, as appropriate for a deployment away from friendly resupply or support for a month or more.

To the Albion Dragon Knights and Joseph of Gallia, the only elements of the _Hummingbird's_ capabilities that mattered, were their sensor packages abilities to track the retreating Dragons, their heavy lasers' ability to fire effectively at their given range, their targeting software's ability to split targets evenly between the seven gunships, and automatically handle the precision targeting control of both the aircraft and the lasers' firing aperture, smoothly moving them from one target to the next as targets were eliminated. It took less than ten seconds from the time the order was passed to Commander Chung for the squadron to acquire, designate, and divide targets, and for the targeting computers to formulate the most efficient coordinated firing pattern for the gunships.

Once Chung gave her firing computer the 'execute' command, it took less than two and a half seconds of pulsed laser fire to kill every Dragon rider in the retreating company. Few of the shots even did any substantial injury to the Dragons they were riding, who immediately began fleeing to their home territory of Albion.

((()))

"Attack mission is under way," Quint said, "I assume from what you've asked for, you intend to stay for the duration?"

"Yes sir," Joshua said tiredly, "These people could use the services of a merchant-industrial fleet."

"You're the man on the ground, Captain," Quint said, "Is there anything else of urgent need?"

"I don't suppose there's a healer on hand?" Joshua asked.

"Not sure if we'll be able to hold the Gate long enough to get-"

His words were cut off by a ripple of cracks, as faintly visible lances of coherent light cut across the the sky from the West, towards the South, and Joshua felt a spike of vindictive satisfaction as the Dragon Knights died, and more particularly, their commander, died.

((()))

Though certain components of the heavy lasers mounted in the Hummingbirds were enchanted to better endure the waste heat and other rigors involved in their operation, and the gain medium and other optical elements were enchanted to better focus and amplify the emitted beam, there was absolutely nothing magical about the produced beam of light itself. Designed for use against vehicles armored with modern composites, some of which could reasonably be expected to be enchanted, a Halkeginian earth mage of triangle or square class with warning could have conjured a physical barrier strong enough to resist fire from such weapons briefly. Firing from beyond the ranges at which the Dragon Knights could even detect them, and striking at literally the speed of light, no such warning was available.

Joseph's shield was a nigh-impregnable defense against magical attack; the _Hummingbirds_ attack was not magical in the least. With no particular reason to be overly conservative, and possible unknown defensive enchantments, Chung's squadron left a healthy margin of error in the amount of power they put behind each micro-pulse of laser fire.

In this case, 'a healthy margin of error' translated to so much heat transferred to Joseph's head that the soft tissues were subject to a mixture of the water within them boiling away, and the more solid materials burning to ash instantly. Considering what had happened to Siesta's wound, Joshua would have considered the manner in which Joseph's head was destroyed, and the man was killed, to be an appropriate justice, if the body had ever been found.

With Joseph's death, another incarnation of Void Magic was loosed into Halkeginia, and with the distances both he and Louise had traveled since Sheffeld's death, this magic was released even closer to the pink-furred Void Dragon. The Void magic soared across the intervening space almost as fast as the lasers had, and poured itself into her magically absorbent body.

Louise roared with a mixture of surprise and euphoria.

((()))

From both sides, the green gate visibly flared with power, and the N'bara twins suddenly lurched towards it, stopped only by the instinctive, instantaneous reaction of Jonas Quint, latching onto the pair of slightly inhuman girls and using his earth magic to hold himself tightly to the deck.

"What happened?" He shouted at the gate mages.

"Whatever's grounding the gate on the other side," The senior of the two said, "Just got a substantial boost in power. We're-"

He cut off as the gate swelled again, and _writhed_ as it struggled to pull Brianna N'bara through itself. Quint held dead fast to the pair of thirteen-year-old girls, and glared at the gate.

"How long?" He demanded of the Gate mages.

"Three minutes, tops," The junior mage said, the senior too focused to risk speaking, "Less if it does that again."

Quint thought furiously as he studied the again-enlarged gate before him, guessing it to now be roughly eight meters in diameter.

"If we put more power into your circle," Quint asked, "How much bigger could you make that Gate?"

"Big," The junior mage said, "At least big enough for a strike craft. I don't know if the other ground _has_ a maximum limit. It's different than a normal Gate."

"Right then," Quint said, then turned to his communications officer, "I want every mage on this ship capable of joining a circle in this room _now._"

((()))

"What was that?" Kirche asked, staring in the direction of the still-echoing thunder.

Tabitha, riding in front of Kirche on Sylphid, just shook her head.

Augustus Zerbst, seated behind Kirche, on the other hand, did speak.

"Sounded like thunder to me."

"Well, _obviously_," Kirche said, "But there was no flash of lightning, so it couldn't have been natural, and it was too sustained for anything but the largest scale of combat spells. Knowing who caused that, and just what it is, might be very important when we get back to Castle Valliere."

"So what do you want me to do?" Augustus demanded.

"Ask the others," She said with an irritated jerk of her head, indicating the two dozen flying beasts following them, each with two battle-mages riding them.

Augustus rolled his eyes, even though his slightly younger cousin couldn't see, then turned to begin signaling the others.

((()))

The _Perjury's Ruin _was a gunship, a term used within the fleets to refer to any vessel that was primarily dedicated to combat capability. When Joshua's nation had been driven into a nomadic lifestyle by the mass nuclear bombardment of their land and subsequent fallout, they had taken lessons from both their own distant past, and more recent ethnic groups of nomads. Primarily, this meant that their city-fleets were armed to the teeth, more than 90% of their vessels with at least nominal armaments, and gunships dedicated entirely to the waging of war scattered throughout the fleet. Migrant peoples tended to be persecuted in many, if not most, of the places they traveled through, and rarely lacked the strength at arms to protect themselves; this was not a pattern they intended to be trapped in.

As gunships went, the _Perjury's Ruin_ was of middling size, its envelope was roughly 400 meters long, a sixth that in width, and supported six ventral decks of troop quarters, armories, gun and missile batteries, and a small dorsal ICBM/counter-ICBM silo. Like all vessels of the fleet, its powered engines were capable of supporting it in the case of envelope failure; unlike non-military vessels of the fleet, it was designed to readily collapse its envelope and move at high speeds under powered flight for strategic deployment and combat purposes. It was also far too large to fit through the Void Gate, even after five dozen combat mages aboard ship had joined in a circle to lend the Gate mages their power, and the gate's subsequent enlargement.

The _Perjury's Ruin_, however, was but one vessel amongst the fleet, and Commander Quint had already compiled a list of available vessels, and ordered them to begin collapsing their envelopes in preparation for passage through the Gate. Nobody had ever sent a full-on fleet-vessel through a Gate before, but then, there'd never been the _need_ before. A fleet could cross the globe in a few days, and if one already had sufficient force at a destination to create a gate that large, one would be better suited simply holding on to the position until reinforcements could arrive via a method _other _than tearing a hole through the fabric of space/time.

By the time the Gate had stabilized, Quint had already decided which ship he _wanted_ to send through, and to his satisfaction, the stabilized Gate was indeed large enough for the _Sky Tree_ to pass through, even if only just.

((()))

"What was that?" Karin asked as she glared in the direction the Dragon Knights had fled, "You know _something_ of it."

"What makes you say that?" Joshua asked, his voice devoid of emotion.

"I've seen you fight enough to know you would have done more than just sit there if you didn't," Karin said harshly, "Now tell me."

"Reinforcements," Joshua said reluctantly, "Princess Henrietta sent Tabitha, Kirche, and your daughter to acquire reinforcements before the battle began."

"Where from?" Karin demanded, wishing she could see past his helmet to read his expression.

"The Zerbst," Joshua admitted.

Karin scowled. While she didn't bear her husband's hereditary animosity towards the Zerbst, she did have a healthy respect for the large clan's considerable martial prowess. The fact that they swore loyalty to a monarch from a line not ordained by Brimir did nothing to endear them to her favor either.

It did not even occur to Karin, after revealing that the Princess of Tristain had sent for reinforcements from Germania, that he might be redirecting her from a bigger revelation with a lesser. Her attention redirected, Joshua was on his comm again.

"N'bara here," He said, "What's going on over there?"

"Portal surge," A voice he recognized as Quint's comm officer said, "Other side amped up in power but large; we're stabilizing and enlarging over here."

"Roger," Joshua said, "Anything else I should be apprised of?"

There was a moment's pause before the other man spoke again.

"The portal's grounded to one of your sisters," He said, "It's trying to pull her through."

Joshua said nothing in response; he simply did not know what to say. Or what to think. Or what to do about that at _all_. After everything that had happened in the last few years, then the last few months after his summoning, then Karin capturing him, and now the events of this last night...

So Joshua sat amongst the ravaged battlements of the keep, and simply stared at nothing in particular, trying to think of what to do, and his mind coming up blank.

((()))

Henrietta also heard the roll of thunder, but she was far too busy patching up the grievously wounded, and far, _far_ too few survivors of her Royal Guard to pay it any more mind than hope it didn't mean a renewal of battle.

Then the stretcher-bearers brought in Siesta's mutilated but still-living body, dressed up in one of her dresses, with her hair magicked to be the same color as the Princess' own. It was only knowing that if she did not keep at her work, some of the wounded would die, that kept her from falling apart on the spot. She still had to repeatedly clear her eyes repeatedly of the tears that silently fell. This wasn't the first time that she had worked on wounded Royal Guardsmen before, and she doubted it would be the last, but usually her tears didn't come until after she left the infirmary and had to deal with the corpses, rather than those who would survive. The Royal Guardsmen though, were soldiers sworn to the service of the Royal Family, trained and equipped for combat, and well-compensated for their services. Siesta...

Siesta had been a maid with no oath to her personally, no training, no pay proportionate to her risk, just a young woman with the courage to stare death in the face. And worst of all, Henrietta knew she'd done it because the maiden _believed in her_.

It always hurt the most when she knew someone had been injured because of their personal loyalty to her.

((()))

Louise's eyes, already roughly half the size of a human head in her fully-draconic form, widened. Rather than the long procession of metallic crates that had been coming through before, something _massive_ was now moving through the portal. Even with the portal enlarged as it had been a mere minute ago. In shape, it was vaguely like a trough, tapering slightly towards the bottom, broader at the top, and far longer than it was wide. In composition, it was formed entirely of metal, with with portholes and mechanisms she both did and didn't recognize from her dreams dotting the sides, including some she knew were weapons.

When she recognized the airships, she made the mental jump to realizing what the object was as a whole; one of the vessels from Joshua's fleet, with its envelope of lighter-than-air gas collapsed to make it more maneuverable, not to mention capable of passing through the portal. All told, it still took a half-minute for the vessel to pass through, and Louise had to spend most of that with her head and neck firmly planted along the spine of the aircraft she was resting on, since the portal's position was anchored to her, and the distance between her and the portal was less than the total length of the vessel.

((()))

"Captain N'bara," Quint said, "You still there?"

"Yes sir," N'bara said, in what Quint immediately recognized as a voice that was too soft.

It didn't take much to connect the drastic mood shift to his request for a Healer earlier, as well as N'bara hearing about the Gate trying to pull his sister through. He didn't have the time to deal with that right now though, and trusted Joshua to be able to snap out of it when the pressure really came on.

"The Gate's breaking free of our control," Quint said, "Gate mages say once it's broken free of their control, it'll be picking up Brianna. We've just sent the _Sky Tree_ through the Gate, and you've got a full fabrication complex. We're chucking a truncated company of mechs through, but as you're their legal guardian, you need to decide if one, or both, of your sisters will be coming through."

Joshua said nothing for precious seconds, and Quint knew he'd need more push.

"Your sisters need you," He said quietly.

"Put them on," Joshua said, purpose clear in his voice again.

((()))

Louise's eyes widened all the more as the titans of war she had seen from Joshua's memory began raining through the portal, moving not like the clumsy, or at best stolid, golems she had seen from earth mages, but like deadly avatars of war, their human pilots controlling them with deadly grace and finesse.

((()))

Karin heard a series of dull thuds resounding from the West, and turned her attention in that direction, before glancing at Joshua to see if he knew what was approaching. The Knight was standing now, and the dejection that had briefly entered his posture was gone, replaced with a purposeful, commanding pose that she had seen in few men before. She could tell he was speaking, but she could not hear, and then it _did_ occur to her that his statements about possible Zerbst approaching may have been misdirection, _especially_ considering the obtuse route they would have had to approach by in order to intercept the Dragon Knights.

((()))

"Josh," Laura said softly, "We're sorry."

Joshua nearly broke down and cried.

"We missed you," Laura continued quietly, "Our change has started, and it's been hard. Please let us both come."

"I Love you both," Joshua said, his voice hoarse with emotion, "Put the Commander back on, and I'll see you shortly."

((()))

"Joshua," Karin said forcefully, raising her wand meaningfully, but not quite pointing it at him directly, "What is approaching."

Joshua pulled his helmet off, and met her glare with blazing eyes.

"My people come," He said matching every bit of force in the older woman's voice, "Warriors and citizens both. Step carefully woman, as _alone_ amongst all of your forces, you _may_ pose a threat to them, and they _all_ pose a threat to you."

Then he reached into his helmet, and adjusted something.

"Commander Quint," He said, maintaining eye contact with Karin, "My sisters will both be coming through. If you've got the time, I'm requesting the _Perjury's Ruin's_ stealth team."

"Done," A male voice replied, emanating from his helmet, "And done. The _Sky Tree's_ captain will have civil authority, I'm brevetting you to Lieutenant-Colonel, and giving you military command, as well as standard first-contacter diplomatic authority. Godspeed."

"And to you, sir," Joshua said, "Lieutenant-Colonel N'bara out."

He adjusted something within his helmet again, and continued to stare at Karin.

"Your daughter is with my people," Joshua said fiercely, "And under my personal protection, both as a Knight, and now as commander of all forces we have deployed to Halkeginia. I will not hold what you have done to me, personally, against your nation, or Louise, but let me make something clear, I _know_ what was done to me while I slept, and there _will_ be an accounting for it."

Karin simply nodded, waiting to see just what his people had brought, if they were in fact here, before she committed to a course of action.

((()))

In all, the Gate mages, backed by as many of the mages aboard the _Perjury's Ruin_ that could afford to leave their posts, held the gate open for five minutes and thirty-seven seconds after Louise's void magic was augmented by that of the late king of Gallia, and increased the draw on Brianna N'bara. The final four people to pass through, were the two Gate mages, then Laura, and finally Brianna N'bara. The instant Brianna had fully passed through, the gate disintegrated and disappeared.

((()))

To her considerable surprise, After a brief delay following the last war machine passing through the gate, a pair of men in light armor came through, followed by a pair of girls. Girls with slightly altered features, and a light dusting of fur across their bodies; girls that Louise recognized.

One of them, she wasn't sure which, stared up at her in befuddled awe.

"Did big brother get married while we were here?" She asked.

_That must be Laura_, Louise absently thought, _Brianna would never be so bold._

((()))

"Princess," Joshua said, and Henrietta looked up from the Guardsmen she was checking for further bleeding.

"Yes, Joshua?" She said.

"Please come with me," Joshua said quietly, very carefully _not_ looking in the corner where Siesta's damaged body rested, "You should see this."

Henrietta gestured for one of the commoner attendants to take over for her, then nodded and followed Joshua out of the Infirmary.

((()))

On top of the keep, Joshua, Henrietta, and the two Royal Guardsmen who had remained within the Infirmary for the duration of the battle, joined Karin, who was watching the sky to the West of the castle.

"What is it Joshua?" Henrietta asked, glancing at the Knight before looking to the West as well.

"My people come," Joshua said, "You should see some of what Louise dreamed of."

Henrietta glanced at the Knight again, but his own attention was directed to the West already. She returned her attention to the western sky, and watched.

First came the sound; a low rumble steadily rising in volume, soon accompanied by a high pitched whining sound. Then a large silhouette began to overtake the stars over the western horizon, and Henrietta's sharp eyes were able to make out smaller shapes maneuvering about it.

Then Joshua raised his helmet, spoke a short phrase into it, in a language Henrietta was not familiar with, and there was light, _everywhere_. But more than anywhere else, there was light on the sleek metal hulls of the flying constructs approaching, and the massive balloon like airship that they were escorting.

Henrietta was glad that her mother had required her to undergo extensive training in always maintaining proper comportment, as the vessel in front of her was the largest airborne object she had ever seen, aside from Albion itself. Henrietta did a rapid comparison between the airship and the trees at the edge of the forest it was passing over, and concluded it was far too large for her to get an accurate estimate of its dimensions.

Then an enormous metal golem, not the largest she'd seen, but easily several stories tall, stalked out of the forest, moving more gracefully than any magical construct she'd ever seen. _Or_, she said, remembering Louise's words of Joshua's nation, _possibly a non-magical construct._ Then another humanoid construct strode out of the forest, then another, and _another_. Henrietta's eyes abruptly narrowed, and she turned to stare at Joshua.

"You arranged this spectacle on purpose, didn't you?" She said.

"Yes," Joshua said, "People are always more willing to treat you with respect when they know you are strong. Migrant peoples throughout my world's history were often persecuted, and when war forced my people from our lands, we determined we would never allow ourselves to be taken as the victims. First contact always involves a show of strength."

He turned to Karin, before continuing.

"Especially," He said, "For those who are proven threats."

Karin stared stonily back at him, but Joshua only met her gaze for a moment before turning to face the approaching aircraft again.

"And after the show of strength?" Henrietta asked.

"We help you build a new future," Joshua said.

((()))

End Chapter 7.

((()))

AN: This story may go on hiatus for a while while I work on Cameron's Legacy again; I'm thinking it'll be one to three more chapters before I complete this plot arc, depending on chapter length. After that, the story will either be finished, or waiting for enough plot advancement in the ZnT source material to come to light before I advance it further.


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry for the late update; Internet service was screwed up for more than a day.

AN: I've been meaning to point it out for a while, but I'll do it now. Halkegenian society, as a whole, is terribly weak against anything remotely resembling a modern military. A WWII spec army, even at equal numbers, would tear it apart. Modern weaponry would be even worse. Top-tier mages like Karin and Colbert would be a credible threat to small formations, even of armor, but at best they'd be even odds, and it's a lot quicker to replace men with automatic weapons, and even modern tanks, than it is a square-class mage.

The setting I'm using here (Which I will reveal the source material for at the last chapter) is a couple hundred years ahead of current real-world civilization, and has more or less had magic mixed in since modern-day tech levels. This means, more or less, that every power within Halkeginia itself is more or less borked, and I'm not going to be making any bones about that. This story has already had its big battle scene; while there may be more fights, any further battles with outcomes in actual doubt would be material for a sequel. Which I am **by no means** promising in any way, shape, or form. I have interest in writing such a thing, but I'm making plans for E-publishing now, as well as firing my fan-fiction efforts into high gear with Brutal Harry and the Tokyo At War story I posted last week. This story is simply the result of a plot bunny that got fed some sort of super-serum; it probably would have ended a chapter or two ago if there hadn't been so much reader interest.

((()))

Dragon Summoning, Chapter 8.

((()))

Louise shivered. While the sensation was certainly not _unpleasant_, it was also something she was altogether unfamiliar with.

"Your fur is even softer than mama's was," The girl rubbing her face into Louise's pelt said softly, and Louise could hear the grief in her voice.

Unfamiliar instincts stirred within her, and she tentatively reached out with her foreleg, carefully wrapping the girl in a hug. Brianna, the girl's twin had introduced her as. Laura, the second girl who was currently standing directly in front of Louise's large head, had thus far proven to be the more talkative twin by far, even if she was having a silent staring match with the Valliere-turned Dragon at the moment.

Honestly, it was making Louise feel uncomfortable, especially since she _knew_ what had happened to these girls, in painful detail.

"Why are you afraid to look at me?" Laura eventually said, still pinning Louise with a harsh stare, "You're a dragon, you should know what we are. And why do you feel so strange?"

Louise shifted a little, uncomfortably aware of her own diminished linguistic abilities.

_She's nice_, said Brianna, _You don't need to be suspicious._

_Are you sure?_ Laura asked, her gaze softening as her attention shifted to her sister, buried in the fur of Louise's breast.

_Yes_, Brianna said, _Besides, she can hear us._

Laura's attention snapped back to Louise, staring at the pink Dragon, who suddenly felt rather like she'd been caught spying on her eldest sister.

"Stop it," Brianna said softly, "You're scaring her. Can't you tell that she only just finished the change?"

"Sorry," Laura muttered softly, looking away briefly, shame coloring her cheeks, before crossing the short distance between herself and Louise's snout, and hugging the much-larger Dragon as best she could.

"Sorry for being mean," Laura said, "And welcome to the family."

((()))

"Oh my," Kirche said somewhat faintly, staring out at the flotilla around the Castle Valliere, "I did not expect this."

Tabitha nodded faintly in agreement; she doubted she would have had words for what she saw, even were she more inclined to speak. Though actions, not words, were appropriate when one of the flying constructs broke off from the flotilla to approach Tabitha and the Zerbst mages. Tabitha nudged Irukuku gently, and carefully shifted her grip on her staff; ready to act if needed, but not overtly threatening.

"Charlotte D'Orleans, Kirche of the Zerbsts," A booming masculine voice issuing forth from the construct said, "Princess Henrietta de Tristain requests your presence atop the Keep of Castle Valliere. The Princess is under the protection of Kyrian Armed Forces, please prevent your subordinates from provoking incidents."

Then the construct spun on its vertical axis, and sped back to Castle Valliere, moving far more swiftly than any magical beast could.

((()))

Atop the keep of Castle Valliere, Karin, Joshua, the Princess, and her surviving guards stood silently as one of the gunships approached them, the wash of its thrusters buffeting them. As it closed to point-blank range, and began to land upon the top of the keep, Henrietta's guards leaned into the artificial wind, and braced the Princess to keep her from being bowled over. Joshua and Karin were more than capable of dealing with it themselves.

Once it had landed, the gunship's engines rapidly spun down, and the cockpit canopy opened to allow the pilot egress. A tall woman leapt out of the cockpit, clad in light body armor complete with a helmet, and saluted Joshua.

"Commander Jaquelyn Chung, Colonel N'bara," The woman said, "The region is secured, and the Zerbst contingent is within one mile of the castle. The Princess' message has been delivered."

"Thank you Commander Chung," Joshua said, returning her salute sharply, "What is the disposition of Miss Valliere?"

Karin tensed slightly at the question, something that none of those present missed.

"The little pink Dragon?" Chung asked.

"Yes," Joshua said.

"She's with your sisters, sir," Chunk said, "In the _Sky Tree_'s number two hold, we've got two class nine battlemages with EFAW on guard."

"Good work, Commander," Joshua said, turning to face Karin and Henrietta, "Let me introduce you to the local bigwigs. This is Duchess Karin Valliere," He gestured to the frigid pinkette, "Probably the most powerful battlemage of this land. She's sporting a new hand and a new arm from her previous scraps with me."

Chung nodded sharply, eyeing the shorter woman critically for a moment.

"And this is Princess Henrietta of Tristain," Joshua said, gesturing to the younger woman, "I'm sure their local customs have much more formal ways of covering it, but I'll leave that to our diplomats. Not an hour ago a personal friend of mine who is _not_ a combatant got the top of her head cut off to protect the Princess. She is _worth_ that degree of protection."

Jaquelyn nodded sharply again, and Joshua closed his eyes again, thinking furiously about what else needed doing in the short run.

"Alright Commander," Joshua said, "We're about to have two parties hostile to each other present, I need you to secure the perimeter, and arrange a strong enough show of force to keep people from getting frisky. Who's in charge of the infantry?"

"Major Long Wolf," Commander Chung said, "He's aboard the Sky Tree."

"Right then," Joshua said, "I'll be going aboard and arranging a detail to protect the Princess, and to check on Miss Valliere. Her magic is responsible for the Gate, and it's now directly interfacing with mine, so I may be occupied for some time, I'm leaving you in tactical control of the situation. Dismissed."

"Yes sir," Chun said, saluting again, before returning to her gunship to begin carrying out her orders.

"Joshua," Henrietta said once the Commander had withdrawn, "I wish to board this airship with you."

Joshua turned his head to look at the Princess, and considered her for a moment before nodding.

"Climb aboard," He said, then turned his gaze to her remaining guards, "You two come with."

Then he walked to the edge of the Keep, and shifted forms. None of the Halkeginians watching had the experience to recognize it, but his concentration was not all that it could have been, resulting in a more energetic transformation as fire, wind, water and earth warped around him in less than subtle ways. Karin noticed the difference, though she was unsure of its significance. Despite the difference, a few seconds after Joshua initiated the change, he stood on four legs instead of two, and the keep's battlements were only slightly worn for the change.

Joshua crouched down and twisted his tail around, using it to assist Henrietta in climbing up his back to seat herself at the join between his neck and shoulders, while her remaining pair of escorts clambered up his flanks to ride behind his wings. Once his passengers were securely situated, and had a strong grip on his fur, Joshua leapt into the air, and began winging his way up to the _Sky Tree_.

"Why did you wish to accompany me?" Joshua asked as they gained altitude, his inhumanly large vocal cords resonating deeply enough that Henrietta could feel his chest and neck vibrating.

"Many reasons," Henrietta said, "Concern for Louise, desire to see what your ship is like," She paused for a moment, "The desire to spend some time away from Karen and the battle she caused."

"That she caused?" Joshua asked.

"That's not entirely fair," Henrietta said, sighing then leaning forward against Joshua's neck, a bitter note entering her voice, "But her foolhardy actions are in large part responsible for what happened. I did choose to come to Castle Valliere, and it was not Karin who chose to attack... It's not really her fault, but my heart still associates her with all of my lost men right now, and I very much wish to be away from her."

Joshua nodded, which was an unusual sight when engaged in by a creature with a neck as long as its main body, but said nothing, and Henrietta was grateful for it. She curled into his fur a little more tightly, and rubbed her face into the back of his neck. Henrietta had seen Dragons fight before, and could tell that the scaled creatures she was accustomed to were definitely possessed of superior natural armoring, but she decided that personally, she preferred Joshua's fur. It was warm, good for gripping, and made physical contact a more pleasant and comforting experience.

And with all the dead in the castle beneath her, Henrietta was grateful for any comfort she could find.

((()))

Not one to stand about idly, Karin signalled with her magic for her armsmen to report back to her, then crossed the roof to speak with the Commander Joshua had left in charge.

"You are Commander Chun?" Karin asked sternly.

"Yes," Jaquelyn said, looking down from her cockpit to match gazes with the woman, "I assume you want something?"

"My men will be reporting to me shortly," Karin said, "If you are charged with organizing forces in defense of my castle, we should coordinate."

"I don't think you quite understand," Jaquelyn said, "You have attacked Lieutenant-Colonel N'bara. _You_ are part of what we are securing this castle against."

Karin blinked, genuinely surprised by the statement, though it did not take her long to recover her train of thought.

"And you leave the officer in command alone with your deadliest potential adversary?" Karin asked, disdain in her voice, "What kind of fools are you?"

Jaquelyn stared down at Karin for a moment, before speaking a handful of words Karin did not understand into a mechanical device. Karin heard a clattering sound, and looked down to find her wand suddenly a great deal shorter than it had been a few moments ago.

"Fools with superior covering fire," Jaquelyn said, staring impassively down at Karin, "That was a precisely modulated burst from a light laser weapon. There is one light, one medium, and one heavy laser cannon trained upon your person right now. The heavy cannon can most likely cut through every wall in your castle with a half-second burst. If you initiate a hostile act, you will _not_ live to complete it."

Karin stared back up at the younger woman, measuring her carefully, then nodded respectfully, before leaving the woman to her work.

((()))

The _Sky Tree_'_s_ number two hold was intended primarily for bulk cargo use, and as such, had a sizeable ventral cargo hatch. Not quite large enough to comfortably manage the wingspan of a young adult Dragon, but large enough that one could pass through on inertia without too much trouble. Joshua did so, quite accustomed to making precisely that entry, and landed gracefully (for a multi-ton Dragon), on his feet.

Directly in front of a pink Dragon about half his size. A very _cute_ Dragon, he noticed, with his sisters seated on her forelegs, apparently having been chatting with the Dragon.

"Ah," He said, rather uncertainly, as he lifted Henrietta down from his back with his tail, "Hello Louise, Brianna, Laura. How have-"

He was rather abruptly cut off by the two girls sprinting across the room to latch themselves onto his forelegs.

_I'm sorry, _Laura spoke sadly into the space of his mind.

_I missed you_, Brianna said in a similar manner, and Joshua could feel the apology in her words.

Joshua closed his eyes, and very carefully held himself completely still, so that he would not tremble as Henrietta's guards dismounted.

_I missed you too_, He said, his mental voice rough with restrained emotion.

Henrietta noticed at least some of what was happening, and quietly withdrew to the other side of Louise's large, pink, furry body, to give the N'bara's some modicum of privacy. Once Joshua's passengers were fully dismounted, he carefully turned about, moving himself, and his sisters who were still clinging to his forelegs, around the cargo hatch, to the far side of the cargo bay.

_I'm sorry_, Laura said again.

Joshua stopped moving, then very carefully lay down, placing his head and neck flat against the deck.

_I'm sorry,_ Brianna said, climbing off of his leg to move up to his head.

Joshua tried to find words to respond, but couldn't, and instead began to tremble with pent up emotion.

Brianna wrapped her arms around his snout, and silently cried into the fur between his eyes.

_I'm sorry,_ Laura said again, beginning to cry into his fur herself, and Joshua could feel the shame and guilt in her mental voice.

_I am the one who failed you, _he quietly said, gently lifting Laura up to his face, beside her sister, _You do not need to be ashamed in front of me._

Laura curled in on herself, and buried her face further into Joshua's fur in an instinctive attempt to hide.

_What we did was wrong_, She said, her voice taut with pain, both her own, and on his behalf.

_I was the one who failed you, _Joshua repeated bleakly.

_That doesn't mean we should have pushed you away_, Brianna said, _That only hurt all of us._

Silence passed between the three for a long moment, before Joshua finally managed to speak again.

_I killed him_, he said.

His sisters said nothing, but he could feel their relief as their bodies relaxed slightly and they came to rest more comfortably against his fur.

_Some people just need to be dead_, Laura eventually said, and the rest of their time alone together passed in silence.

((()))

"Louise!" Henrietta said brightly, "How you've grown! And here you never though you would be taller than me.

Louise's flat, unamused glare was still quite recognizeable even on her new face, and it made Henrietta smile to see it once more.

"Ah, my oldest friend," Henrietta said more gently, moving up to stroke the front of Louise's snout, "It is good to see you well, I was quite worried when Wardes abducted you."

"Then-thaan-thank yehw Prihnshess," Louise ground out, her voice substantially deeper than it had been, but more even, less rough than when she had been partially through the transformation.

"I see your new form comes with a bit of a lisp," Henrietta said, smiling again.

Louise glared at her again.

"Oh, don't be like that Louise," Henrietta said, "Your change is what it is, you can either enjoy it, or be aggravated by it."

Louise rolled her eyes, lifted a paw, then thought better of it before settling for carefully nuzzling Henrietta, causing the Princess to giggle.

"Oooh," She said, wrapping her arms around Louise's muzzle, "Now you're _cuddly_. It's too bad you can't speak clearly, like Joshua can. I suppose it's lack of practice?"

"Swhaaht girhls say," Louise rumbled softly, nodding, and accidentally lifting Henrietta off the deck briefly in the process.

"Your Highness," One of Henrietta's bodyguards said, "Someone approaches."

Henrietta turned to see that a hatch leading further into the airship had opened, allowing a man whose features were mostly indistinguishable, due to him wearing armor nearly identical to that Joshua wore in his human form to enter and approach the Princess.

"Princess Henrietta?" He asked as he approached, and she nodded.

"A 'Charlotte d'Orleans' has been redirected to this location, as you requested to speak with her. Do you wish for us to allow her to board?"

"Of course," Henrietta said, "Thank you, mister...?"

"Anthony Dovak," The man said, bowing slightly, "Captain and Class Nine Battlemage. You're quite welcome."

Henrietta smiled at him, and nodded her head in respect, then watched as he left the cargo bay again. A moment later, the cargo bay doors opened again, and Sylphid, bearing Tabitha, Kirche, and a young man Henrietta did not recognize, swept gracefully into the cargo bay. The Dragon, not to mention her passengers, stared in some surprise at the large _pink_ Dragon that was in front of them, and Henrietta suspected that Louise was blushing at the attention, though it was impossible to tell through her fur.

"Hello, Charlotte," She said, smiling at the tiny bluenette, "As you can see, other allies arrived, though I thank you for traveling to the Zerbst on my behalf nonetheless."

"Welcome," Tabitha said quietly, nodding at Henrietta as the pair of Zerbst dismounted Sylphid to approach Henrietta.

"I am Henrietta d'Tristain," Henrietta said, nodding to the two approaching Zerbst, "I have already met Kirche of the Zerbst, and you are?"

"I am Augustus Zerbst, your highness," Augustus said, bowing formally to the Princess, "We were informed that you were in need of aid."

"And so I was," Henrietta said, "However, unexpected aid from other sources reached us first. You still have my thanks for coming to our aid, however, and as Germania and Tristain are now allies, I wish for you to both meet Tristain's new allies, and potentially ally with them as well."

"I assume you speak of the owners of these constructs?" Augustus said.

"She does," Joshua said, striding up behind Kirche and Augustus with his sisters riding on his shoulders, and rubbing shoulders companionably with Sylphid as he strode past the smaller Dragon, "We are from a different land, arrived here via portal, first myself, and then the others you have seen tonight."

"This is Joshua N'bara," Henrietta said, reaching up to lay a hand on Joshua's snout as he came to stand beside her, "Military commander of the newcomer's forces. He fought on my behalf tonight, and called in aid from his people to defeat the forces of the Reconquista. You have seen by now, I assume," Henrietta gestured to the solid metal construction of the cargo bay they were in, "How advanced their military technology is compared to our own?"

Augustus nodded.

"My people live as nomadic merchants," Joshua said, "Trading from our airships with people who dwell upon the surface. I have come to trust Princess Henrietta, and we intend to open trade, and share our technology with Tristain. As Germania is an ally of Tristain, not to mention being less steeped in the bigotry of most of Halkeginia's magic-users, we are willing to open negotiations with your nation as well."

Augustus spent a few moments digesting their words, while Kirche took the opportunity to examine Louise's new body, a smile tugging at her lips as she did so.

"My Louise," She said, laughter in her voice, "I didn't think it would ever happen, but you've finally outgrown me!"

Louise stared flatly down at her, then leaned down her head, now of comparable size to Kirche's entire body, and _smiled_. As with her human form, Louise was an omnivore as a Dragon; _unlike_ in her human form, Louise now possessed a much more _impressive_ set of pointy, sharp, multi-inch long teeth.

"My Louise," Kirche said, "What big teeth you have!"

Augustus stared at his cousin as she reached up and stroked the pink Dragon's exposed teeth, who had a _chillingly_ familiar shade of fur.

"Louise," He said slowly, "As in Louise _Valliere?_"

"Yes," Henrietta said, a feral grin working its way across her face, "Lieutenant Colonel N'bara's people also possess _interestingly_ different magic. Louise, an old childhood playmate of mine, summoned Joshua as her Familiar, and her transformation is a result of her magic interconnecting with his."

"Ah," Augustus said, very carefully presenting a neutral expression, "I believe I will need to speak with someone of the Emperor's Court in order to arrange an accredited emissary for negotiations with your people, Lord N'bara."

Joshua nodded, before lifting his sisters down from his back with his tail.

"Climb aboard," He said, "I will give you a ride to the surface, so that you may send one of those who accompanied you back to Germania. We should also speak of Cattleya Valliere, who I notice did not return with you."

Augustus nodded, and approached the Dragon somewhat cautiously.

"I have contacted Major Long Wolf," Joshua said to Henrietta, "He is sending a guard detail down as we speak. As they are serving as _your_ guard, they will follow orders from your commanding guardsman, within reason."

"Thank you," Henrietta said, "When you return, I have some things I wish to discuss with you."

Joshua nodded, then used his tail to lift Augustus onto his shoulders, before departing the Cargo Bay again.

((()))

Due to the late hour, further discussion ended up being delayed until the next day; the N'bara's, Louise, and Henrietta sleeping aboard the _Sky Tree_, while the handful of medical staff aboard the airship shuttled down to the surface to aid the overloaded Valliere healers in caring for all of the many injured throughout the castle. Because of the time difference between Halkeginia and the dimension Joshua and his people originated from, the soldiers, pilots, and physicians that had come through with the Sky Tree were easily able to work through the night, though Commander Chung put them on rotation two hours after their arrival. The humanoid war machines they had brought with spent part of the night collecting the crates that had been dropped through into the nearby forest through the Gate, before the Sky Tree passed through.

Karin spent the night re-organizing what remained of her family's retainers, and seeing to the safety of the non-combatants amongst them. She then ordered that the clean-up begin, a great number of bodies and blood littering the castle, especially the first floor of the inner keep. The Zerbst forces that had come at Henrietta's call ended up returning to Germania, leaving only Augustus, Kirche, and a small honor guard behind, who also bunked aboard the Sky Tree for the night, in order to avoid incidents between the Valliere and the Zerbst.

In the end, it was shortly after noon, during lunch, that Henrietta, Louise, Augustus, Kirche, Major Long Wolf, Captain Akusa Grant (the captain of the Sky Tree), and the N'baras spoke again at length, though Laura and Brianna spent most of the meal helping Louise get used to eating in her new form.

((()))

"This is excellent food, if quite unusual," Henrietta said as she ate a dish based upon fish in rice.

"Due to the highly automated nature of our economy," Captain Grant said amiably, "Most food is prepared by machines, as it is much cheaper than hiring a chef. Those who do choose to become professional chefs, as a consequence, must become quite skilled to compete with cheaper automated food preparation. As Captain of the Sky Tree, I happen to be wealthy enough to afford a personal chef," He paused, turning to give Joshua a mild glare before continuing, "Even if _some_ people do not appreciate good food when they see it."

"I appreciate good food," Joshua said, currently in his human form and ignoring the man's mild glare as he worked over the hamburger and steak fries on his plate, "Simply a more limited range of it than most."

"Heathen," Grant said, before turning back to Henrietta with a smile, "Joshua and his family have eaten with me many times over the years, and the _rest_ of his family have a much better appreciation for good cooking than the knuckle-head does."

"You've known darling long?" Kirche asked, smiling brilliantly at Captain Grant as she interjected herself into the conversation.

"Certainly," Grant said, "His family has lived aboard the _Sky Tree_ for the last thirty-some years, since before I even became its owner. I was good friends with his parents, before the war began, and his mother was actually my Navigator."

"Ohh," Kirche said, nearly bouncing with excitement, "You must tell me _all about_ him, I know nothing of Darling's life before he came to Halkeginia."

"Well," Grant said, standing and crossing the modest dining room to lift a digital picture display device from a shelf along the wall, "I can do you one better, I can _show _you."

Joshua rolled his eyes, and swallowed what was in his mouth before speaking.

"You know Grant," Joshua said, "Try as hard as you want, you won't be able to embarrass me with those pictures."

"Perhaps," Grant said, directing a smirk at the Knight, "But it's always fun trying, especially since you began building your reputation during the war."

Joshua shrugged, and turned his attention back to his food as Grant began sorting through the pictures stored in the device, before picking one out.

"Ah," He said, holding up the picture for everyone to see, "Here we go, Joshua and his family after Spaghetti with Meatballs about ten years ago."

The picture showed a pair of smiling young adults, both clearly resembling Joshua in his human form, each holding a grinning three-year old covered with red sauce stains all up and down their front, with a scowling Joshua standing between them, even _more_ covered in red sauce than his sisters.

"What happened?" Kirche asked, humor rolling in her eyes.

"Food fight," Grant said, smiling, "The girls teamed up on Joshua, who was winning until they took the sauce pan and dumped the whole thing on him. He didn't take losing to his three-year-old sisters very well."

"I'd imagine not," Kirche said, grinning at Joshua, who shrugged.

"I was eleven," He said, "No eleven-year old likes being one-upped by his little sisters."

"No," Henrietta said, smiling at the Knight, "I suppose not."

"How does that artifact work?" Augustus asked, "I've never seen an enchantment like it before."

"It's not magical at all," Grant said, "It is based on purely mundane electronics and optics, and can display pretty much any two-dimensional image stored in a digital format. Joshua, if you'd care to demonstrate?"

Joshua nodded, and with a small 'pop' and slight burst of heat, his helmet appeared on his head. He turned to face the startled Augustus, and stared at him for a moment, before the helmet disappeared again, and he turned back to his steak fries.

"Image sent," He said to the Captain, who manipulated the device in his hands for a few moments, before holding it up to show a picture of Augustus, taken from the perspective of Joshua in Augustus' moment of surprise.

"What just happened," Grant said, "Is that an camera, that's the name for an image recording device, in Joshua's helmet, took a picture of Augustus, which Joshua then sent a copy of to this device. If I wanted to, I could send a copy of this image to any other device capable of storing and displaying digital data we brought to Halkeginia with us."

"Are such devices common?" Augustus asked, staring uncertainly at his own captured image.

"Very," Commander Chung said, "They are built into every war machine in our military, usually quite a number of them, throughout all of our airships, and pretty much every member of our society owns at least one for private use. Simple cameras and display units cost less than this meal."

"And it's not magical _at all_?" Augustus asked wonderingly.

"Some are," Chung said, shrugging, "But usually only to make them resistant to damage, or water, or some other such thing. Magic isn't integral to their function, and few cameras need enchantment for durability or other purposes."

"Are all of your devices like this?" Augustus asked.

"Almost all of them," Joshua said, turning to stare Augustus in the eye, "You could liken most of our machines, especially our war machines to a sword. A sword is entirely functional without magic, and if the sword is poorly balanced or of poor material, you can enchant it, but it will still be an inferior piece. On the other hand, a sword crafted by a master smith, but unenchanted, will most probably be superior to the poorly-crafted but enchanted blade. The best, of course, would be the blade crafted by the master, and then enchanted on top of that. In all cases, however, the sword is still a sword, and can cut flesh. Our technology is much like this, poorly crafted or well crafted, enchanted or not enchanted, it will still function, though better craftsmanship and enchantment will make it function better."

"Take Joshua's armor," Grant said, "Perhaps one in a million enchanters are capable of crafting work of that quality, and it is literally the finest personal armor in our entire fleet. The general design philosophy behind its construction, however, is the same used for the custom-fitted armor any of our warriors wear, it is simply more thoroughly enchanted, due to Joshua's skill and status as a Dragon-blooded warrior."

"Dragon-blood?" Augustus asked.

"You know, turns into a Dragon, breathes fire, all that?" Grant said.

"This is unusual amongst your people?" Kirche asked.

Grant blinked in surprise, and stared at the two Zerbst, before bursting into laughter.

"Heavens no!" He said, "Dragon-blood are _very_ rare, Joshua and his sisters are the only amongst our entire fleet, and their births, only nine years apart, is extremely uncommon amongst his people. The rest of us are normal humans."

Augustus, Tabitha, and Kirche turned to look at Joshua, who smirked at them before stuffing the last of his hamburger into his mouth.

"As interesting as all of this is," Henrietta said with a smile, "We really should move onto subjects of more substance."

"Of course, Princess," Grant said, leaning back in his chair, "What would you like to discuss first?"

"Well," Henrietta said, "Considering all of your technology, what does Tristain, and Germania, have to trade that you would actually want of us?"

"That's easy," Grant said, shrugging, "Natural resources, a different system of magic, I've had reports from the ship's doctors that your magical healing is of great interest to us, cultural things such as the arts and entertainment."

"I'd hardly think that would be enough to pay for a complete overhaul of either nation's economy," Henrietta said cautiously, "Much less both."

"It may seem that way to you," Grant said, "But you have to remember just how much _easier_ manufacturing is for us. My ship has a crew of roughly six hundred, and we'll be working full-time with our on-board resources, as well as the fabrication unit that Quint had sent through before the Gate closed. Once we have that set up, we'll probably be out-manufacturing _both_ of your nation's combined, and eating up most of your economic output as payment for what you sell us. That'll probably translate into the six hundred of us becoming very, _very_ wealthy on what you pay us to modernize your economies, but it'll certainly be workable."

"What will you do with all that wealth?" Henrietta asked curiously.

"Myself," Grant said, "I'll probably be hiring out your mages to enchant my ship up something fierce. Depending on just how lucrative all this is, a lot of my crew will probably be purchasing or constructing their own ships when we get back home, and in the fleet, there's not much better than owning your own ship. It's very liberating."

Henrietta nodded slowly, taking a few moments to think before speaking again.

"I'm somewhat relieved to hear that," She said, "The most substantial issues that remain then, are acclimating my people to the use of more advanced technology, and preparing the nobility of Tristain for the upcoming change in the balance of power between the nobility and the common folk. I've had an idea on how to resolve both issues in one move."

((()))

"You wish to expand the academy?" Osmond said, eyes widening in surprise as he met his Princess' even gaze.

"Yes," She said, raising an eyebrow at the elderly man, "And, unfortunately, I must take Professor Colbert off of your hands to serve as head of the new branch. It will ultimately answer to your authority, but aside from that, be wholly independent from the normal operations of the already existant branch of the Tristain Academy."

"And what will this new branch teach?" Osmond asked curiously.

"Science," Henrietta said with a grin.

((()))

End chapter 8.

AN: I'm definitely running out of steam for this fic. I'll still be running it through to completion, but it won't be as detailed as it otherwise might have been.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: This is the final chapter of Dragon Summoning. The crossover franchise will be named in the Author's Note at the end of the story. Sorry about not posting last Saturday, I simply didn't know how to end this thing. There's a reason plot bunnies generally remain plot bunnies, and not full-length stories...

((()))

Dragon Summoning Chapter 9:

((()))

Time passed, and Louise spent the next few months mostly with the N'bara sisters and her own elder sister. Once the foreign physicians finished treating those injured in the battle at Castle Valliere, one of them immediately took Cattleya to the _Sky Tree_'s medical facilities, and scanned her with a variety of machines that Louise somewhat understood from Joshua's memories. She was diagnosed with a genetic disease, and was treated promptly with a retrovirus.

For the first month, Cattleya was bedridden, and attached to life support machines as her body sweated its way through a systemic overhaul. By the end of the second month, she had recuperated to her usual level of fragility, and after three, she was noticeably stronger. Much of her time in the _Sky Tree_'s infirmary was spent discussing how the healers of Halkeginia had treated her disease thus far, as less than one in a billion people in Joshua's homeworld had the ability to treat such ailments with magic, whereas in Halkeginia, apparently any water mage with the discipline and skill was capable of doing so.

Louise's time was split between visiting the infirmary, an awkward prospect even though the _Sky Tree_ had been designed and constructed with Dragons in mind, the N'bara family's generously sized quarters, and classes at the Tristain Academy. The N'bara sisters accompanied her almost everywhere, acting as her hands where her large forepaws simply were not capable of fine manipulation. They sat by the window she stuck her head in through for indoor classes, and on or beside her during outdoor classes. During off hours, the N'bara sisters helped her gain a more practical knowledge of the things she had seen in her dreams of Joshua's memories.

And her dreams of Joshua's life continued, though paced more slowly now, as they followed his life since coming to Halkeginia.

((()))

Joshua spent the three months working out the terms of trade with Henrietta, briefing and training his new subordinates to effectively combat the mage-armies that Halkeginian's favored, very carefully spending time with Louise and his sisters, and visiting the catatonic Siesta. Like Henrietta, a good deal of his behavior was the result of deliberately burying himself in his work; also like Henrietta, it was just as much about the work _needing to be done_. As the diplomatic and military head for his people, he held the lion's share of authority; Henrietta, as the heir to the throne of Tristain, soon to inherit as her mother had little apparent interest in ruling, held a similarly important position.

This made them both _essential_ to almost every facet of the developing trade between their nations, at least during their opening phase, as there was little familiarity or trust between the two factions. Joshua's people were untrusting of most of the Halkeginian nobility, due to their inflated sense of position and worth, and the Halkeginian nobility were condescending towards most all of Joshua's people as they were not 'nobles' themselves. As a Knight, and personal friend of the Princess, Joshua was the only man readily respected by the Tristainian and Germanian nobles; Henrietta, held in high regard by Joshua, lacking the condescending attitude of the Halkeginian nobility despite her own royal birth, and having first appeared before Joshua's people spattered with the blood of men she had personally been healing, was the only Halkeginian mage readily commanding respect from Joshua's people.

Accusations from the faculty that the soldier's amongst Joshua's people had stolen the 'Staff of Destruction' and possibly done away with the Headmaster's Secretary by the Tristain Academy's faculty, as both had apparently gone missing shortly before the _Sky Tree_ came to the academy to begin construction work, nearly sparked armed conflict. Once it was revealed that the _Sky Tree's_ infantry compliment stocked scores of the fire-and-forget shoulder-launched missile weapons that the 'Staff of Destruction' apparently had been, the faculty withdrew their suspicions, partly out of fear, especially once it became known that commoners were fully capable of deploying the weapons.

Joshua just added locating Longueville, the Headmaster's Secretary, to his to-do list, alongside finding a healer capable of restoring memories, and recovering Tabitha's mother. The final activity he engaged in, was acclimating himself to his new war machine, a Fast Assault model almost thirty percent larger than his old ride, massing more than one hundred metric tons, outfitted exclusively with laser and gauss weaponry.

((()))

For Kirche, the three months after the battle of Castle Valliere were the greatest learning experience in her life. She had always been drawn to passion, attracted to intensity and ardor, and herself been a passionate woman.

But never before in her life, had she been a part of something _larger _than herself. Ever since she had tacitly sworn herself to support Henrietta in her crusade to remake Tristain, and now most likely Germania as well, she had been swept up into a veritable whirlwind of activity. The very day after Henrietta secured the funds to construct the new branch of the Tristain Academy, she sent Kirche to Germania to recruit students, both commoner and noble, for the new school. She spent a month with one of the gunship pilots, a short man with a wry sense of humor by the name of Asuma Solberg, recruiting from the duchies of Germania, both the nobility and the common folk. It was probably easier than what Henrietta herself was doing in Tristain, as Germanians were already accustomed to the idea of nobility who were not magi.

She also wore much more modest clothing, and learned a great deal more about Joshua's past, and part of why he had so readily spurned her advances. Unlike Halkeginian magi, or most magi from his world, Joshua's part-dragon race were capable of magic without a focus, and, indeed, all that was required for their magic to become active was lack of control during moments of strong emotion, or great passion. Due to their inherent resistance to their own magical elements, they stood little to no chance of self-injury, but physical intimacy was almost guaranteed to be fatal for anyone not benefiting from similar immunities.

Not to mention that such encounters tended to play havoc upon their surroundings, meaning any paramour of Joshua would have to be willing to withdraw to some place that could be thoroughly destroyed without cost any time a private rendezvous was desired. On the whole, Kirche was considering for the first time, that she may have set her sights upon a man who was more than she was prepared to handle. Considering how difficult Louise's transformation had been, and what Solberg had told her about the mortality rate involved in that kind of change, she at least understood why Joshua's race of Dragonbloods were so set upon monogamy.

She had a feeling there was more to it than simply fear of killing any sexual partners they may have had, however, as she was fairly certain that Joshua had been at least somewhat receptive to the now-catatonic maid's affections, even though he had not been to her own.

((()))

Jean Colbert was very nearly in paradise, though out of respect for those lost at Castle Valliere, he carefully restrained his enthusiasm when around Henrietta and the other survivors of the battle. These newcomers had taken the concepts he had been tinkering around in his laboratory with, multiplied and advanced them a thousand-fold, and built a society based upon them. One that while capable of magic, was in no way dependent upon it. It was everything Colbert had ever hoped and dreamed for, and he was being placed in a key role to uplift Tristainian society to a similar level of technological enlightenment.

He found the differences between the two world's magical systems even more fascinating; unlike the Halkeginian five-element system, the magi of Joshua's world used a nine element system, though each was individually less capable than any single one of the Halkeginian elements. While Knight N'bara's rare breed of Dragon hybrids possessed some capabilities Halkeginian magic was incapable of, that mostly devolved to their form manipulation, and immunity to their own elements of magic.

The foreign magi grouped their elements according to type; Earth, Water, and Air also being referred to as Solid, Liquid, and Gas, which he was rapidly beginning to understand the significance of as he devoured their scientific texts. The second group contained Fire and Ice, or more strictly thermal activity and inactivity; the properties of this pair of elements had frustrated the scientists of the other world, as they could not understand the arbitrary balance point between temperatures that were the domain of the one, or the domain of the other. The third grouping was Light and Shadow, and it was this pair that completely defied scientific quantification; Colbert did not fully understand the optical and 'photonic' mechanics involved, so left in depth study of that until after the new branch of the Academy was established, and he had more free time.

The final pair of elements bore no particular relationship to each other, and were grouped together primarily because they functioned differently than the three primary groupings. The 'Life' element appeared for completely unknown reasons, sometimes even cropping up in those who were not of mage descent, and was, in essence, the ability to manipulate life in one form or another. Electricity, also sometimes known as Thunder or Lightning, was mostly similar to the other elements, in that it let the wielder manipulate Electricity, and electromagnetic fields (something Colbert was only just beginning to truly understand), it was different primarily in that it only appeared amongst the Dragon hybrid race that Joshua, his sisters, and now young Miss Valliere were members of.

Some things, such as a Halkeginian Wind mage's ability to both manipulate the air, and create illusions, the magi from Joshua's world could perform, though they would require use of two different elements. Others, such as creating a copy of oneself, as per Karin's extremely powerful clone spell, the outworlder magic was absolutely and utterly incapable. Fundamentally, each element of their magic system was capable exclusively of manipulating its element; 'Earth' would manipulate matter in a solid state, 'Water' would manipulate matter in a liquid state, 'Fire' would heat, or to a certain limit, draw the heat out of a material, and so on and so forth. The only limitation was that a mage could not manipulate a living body directly, unless they were overwhelmingly powerful, as the very nature of being alive seemed to impose some sort of barrier to direct manipulation on the part of magic in Joshua's world. 'Life' magic was the sole exception to this rule, as it utterly bypassed this defense, and working exclusively with living bodies.

Colbert desperately desired time for a more in depth study of the differences in the two world's magic, but he simply was too busy.

((()))

Karin spent the next three months in the _Sky Tree's_ brig, the beginning of a five-year prison term she had been sentenced to for her actions against Captain N'bara by military tribunal. By direct order from the Crown of Tristain, she accepted the punishment.

Her husband was not pleased to discover what had become both of his castle, and his wife, when he returned home, but submitted to the Crown's orders, and rather than raise strife, worked with survey teams from the _Sky Tree_ to locate deposits of useful metals on Valliere land for trade.

((()))

Siesta was aware, but little more could be said for her; her brain stem, spine, and non-central nervous system were attempting to interact with a brain that, while physically regenerated, no longer was wired appropriately to handle the incoming data, and was foundering under the assault of sensory data from the rest of her body. She was not in pain, but little else could favorably be said about her condition, except that her hair was growing back in, which the N'bara sisters took time to groom when they visited with Louise, Henrietta, or their brother.

It was during one of their brushing sessions that Siesta began to come out of her catatonic state, shifting to allow them easier access to her hair. The movement was so subtle that the N'bara sisters did not really notice it, and Louise wasn't certain enough of what she had seen to really believe it herself, much less mention it to others.

((()))

Time passed. Henrietta devoted a great deal of time and energy to the organization of the new branch of the Tristain Academy, construction, staffing, organization, furniture, tools, teaching supplies, in all, it was no small undertaking. She also dealt with her mother and Cardinal Mazarin to secure funds both for the academy's construction, and to trade with Joshua's people. Further, she spent one day each week flying to a given portion of Tristain, to recruit students for her school amongst the commoners, and to consult with local healers.

The royal healers, and Henrietta herself, had been able to repair the _physical_ damage to Siesta, but her mind was another matter. Those of Henrietta's guardsmen who had survived the battle at Valliere castle were either healed without too much trouble, or outfitted with replacement cybernetics and cloned organs by Joshua's people.

There was also the political fallout of Joshua's people having killed the King of Gallia to deal with.

((()))

"Charlotte," Henrietta said, addressing the taciturn girl who was sitting on the windowsill of the Royal Library in the Royal Palace of Tristain beside her familiar's sleeping body, "I understand that you do not like to speak of what happened to your family and your nation, but the Gallian nobility is threatening Tristain with war if we do not 'hand over the King's murderers.'"

The tiny blue-haired girl lowered her book, and stared at it sadly. Henrietta glanced at Joshua, who had accompanied her for the conversation,

"The nobility killed my father," She said quietly, "And hold my mother hostage against me. I can do nothing."

"The nobility of Gallia are threatening _my_ people," Joshua put in, "And I am quite confident of our ability to defeat them. The problem is, if we simply slay the belligerent nobles, it will leave anarchy and a power struggle amongst the survivors. What we need are two things, first, to know where your mother is, so that we may retrieve her, and second, would the common folk of Gallia accept you as their new ruler?"

Tabitha carefully set down her book, and curled in on herself. Joshua tensed slightly, feeling the desire to comfort the girl, but knew he was too much a stranger for that to be wise. Henrietta had no such compunctions, and promptly sat down beside the smaller girl, then wrapped her arms around the smaller girl. Joshua chose to withdraw and give the two some privacy.

((()))

Three hours later, Henrietta left the Royal Library, the front of her dress rather conspicuously wet.

"She's asleep," Henrietta said softly, "Sylphid is looking after her. But she did tell me where her mother is."

"I'll organize a rescue," Joshua said, bowing slightly to Henrietta, then leaving.

((()))

The small castle that the Royal Duchess d'Orleans was being held in was, on the whole, an ugly structure. Really more of a fortified keep than a castle proper, it was basically a box that was slightly taller than it was wide or long, and just large enough that a noble of modest wealth wouldn't be embarrassed to use it as their primary residence.

On the whole, it suited Joshua's mood perfectly. He could have, possibly should have, sent someone else to carry out this mission, but even if he wouldn't be on the front lines, he felt it was sufficiently his responsibility that he had to at least be present. Besides, even with his armor in place, he made far less noise than a gunship; with the storm that night, he was essentially undetectable. Still, unless something went wrong, the only role he would play now that the team was on the ground, was extraction.

((()))

Along the exterior wall of the castle, a trio of armored figures, two men and one woman, carefully climbed up towards a particular third floor window. Optical cloaking devices reduced them to effective invisibility while immobile, and indistinct blurs while moving; the wind-blown rain moved the odds of unaugmented guards spotting them from 'near-impossible' to 'effectively non-existent.' Tiny pneumatic pistons backed ultra-hard alloy spiked that were controlled via cybernetic link, driving into and withdrawing from the stone wall as needed to allow the three infiltrators to climb the rain-slicked wall with ease.

Despite the rain, there were a full dozen guards posted about the castle's entrance and atop its roof; none spotted the infiltrators. Once they had ascended to the chosen window, chosen because it was barred, a fiber-optic cable was fed through a gap in the window frame. Within, they found a large, luxuriously furnished bedroom, with a woman sleeping in a large bed, and a second sleeping in a tidy cot beside the bed; no guards were present on the inside of the room. The bars of the window were, fortunately, not enchanted, and after withdrawing the probe, the simple application of a cutting laser was all that was necessary to quietly cut the bars loose.

Once the bars had been removed, the window was opened, and two of the three infiltrators swept near-silently into the room, the third closing it behind them, and remaining attached to the exterior wall. Quietly crossing the room, one of the pair moved to the door, and the other to the sleeping women. After a quick verification that the emaciated woman in the larger bed fit the description, and bore a clear resemblance to Charlotte d'Orleans, a sleeping gas was used on her, to assure she would not wake during extraction.

After a brief deliberation over the team's com link with Joshua, the maid in the cot was briefly woken to ask if she wished to leave with her mistress; after receiving a negative answer, she was knocked out as well. That taken care of, the Duchess was wrapped first in one of her own blankets, then in a thin water-proof sheet the infiltrators had brought with them, and extraction was called for. A few minutes later, two of the infiltrators were carefully carrying the Royal Duchess down the wall, while the third welded the bars carefully back into place, then filled in the irregularities with a bonding agent colored to resemble iron.

Less than an hour after they had been dropped into position a half-mile from the castle, Joshua descended to pick them up, and then began the journey back to Tristain, a pair of gunships falling into escort formation with him once he climbed above two thousand feet of altitude.

((()))

By the time Charlotte's mother had been retrieved, the population of the 'Academy' had risen considerably, with the _Sky Tree_ semi-permanently anchored just outside its walls, and the new branch rapidly being assembled. The assembly of the new branch in and of itself was an educational opportunity for the Halkeginians, as the _Sky Tree_'s crew used heavy machinery to synthesize and pour concrete, steel-frame construction, and built in plumbing, electricity, and electronic grids as the new structures were assembled.

It was during this time that Siesta began to noticeably recover, and someone from her family in Tarbes was finally able to visit. One of her many younger brothers, Stephen, came both to see to his sister, and attend the school once it opened. A great deal of his perception of Siesta's crippled state, the presence of the outworlders, and Henrietta's academy project, was formed in how he came to the _Sky Tree_'s infirmary, and what he found there. Rather than riding the _Sky Tree_'s skyhook elevator, Joshua personally carried Stephen to the _Sky Tree_, greeting him by name after recognizing the young man from Siesta's stories of her home village. When they reached the _Sky Tree_, they were met by Louise, who was carrying Laura and Brianna, who spoke with them as they proceeded to the _Sky Tree_'s infirmary, where they arrived during one of Henrietta's visits.

Finding the Princess of Tristain herself at his sister's bedside had a profound effect upon Stephen. Seeing another Princess the next bed over, trying to communicate with her clearly distraught mother, made things nearly seem a dream to him. The _Sky Tree_'s doctors had been more than a little frustrated to discover that the Duchess d'Orleans mental ailment was not a physical malady, but some sort of magically-induced dementia, and they were unable to treat it.

Eventually, a lead on a healer that was potentially capable of treating, well, _anything_ according to rumors turned up, from one of the surviving Albion Dragon Knights, ironically enough. There were tales of a healer hiding in the woods of northern Albion, one who could, and had, treat literally any affliction. It was a flimsy lead, but it was the best they had, and so Louise, Joshua, Tabitha, the two wounded women, and a small military detachment boarded cargo modules docked to three gunships, or in Louise's case took hold of a Gunship's hull, and flew to Albion.

((()))

"I've never really seen a country at war before," Louise rumbled across the comm to Joshua.

"War is hell," Joshua said softly, as he looked out of the passenger compartment's window, down at a burning village and its surrounding fields some thousands of feet below, "There are few things worth going to war for, and all too often people wait too long to fight for them, making wars all the bloodier."

Louise said nothing, but when Joshua focused upon the magical bond between them, he could feel her sorrow. His attention was drawn away from the window by someone wrapping their arms around him, and hugging him firmly. Joshua tensed, before carefully turning to disentangle himself from Siesta's embrace. The young woman had managed to free herself from her seat's restraints, and while she couldn't walk unaided, she had recovered enough motor function to lurch across the narrow space of the passenger compartment to him.

Joshua found it both distressing and heartening, Siesta's behavior as she regained the ability to interact with the world around her. She was incredibly affectionate, smiling warmly at anyone who addressed her, and trying to hug anyone that she recognized. Joshua was encouraged that that facet of her personality had not been lost, but it made his heart ache to be held so intimately when her mind was effectively gone. That Siesta was an attractive young woman, and he was a twenty-something red-blooded male virgin sometimes provoked other difficulties, but he could largely deal with them by wearing his armor whenever he was around Siesta, putting a barrier between the two. Even if it made her pout.

The rest of the trip passed in silence, save for the occasional nonsensical mutterings of Charlotte's mother. It was hard for Joshua to look at Charlotte, and see the desperate hope in her eyes whenever she looked at her mother, knowing that they might very well be chasing down a false lead. Watching the girl interact with her mother, who did not even _recognize_ her, had been heart-breaking. Eventually, they arrived at the forest that was located, as best they had been able to determine, where the Dragon Knight's directions lead.

"Deploying probes," Lieutenant Johann White, one of the Gunship pilots, called, and Joshua donned his helmet, engaging an uplink to the probe's sensor feeds.

Both gunships deployed a dozen simple probes, each built around a single electrically-powered engine, and equipped with audio, visual, and thermal sensors; the probes descended through the forest canopy, and spread out in a geometrically optimized search pattern. After two hours of trying half-heartedly to fend off Siesta's efforts to cuddle with him, the program running the probes brought a particular visual feed to Joshua, and the gunship pilot's, attention, revealing a picturesque cottage in one of the most remote parts of the forest. A pair of young women were herding a swarm of children into the cottage, one of which looked vaguely familiar to Joshua, and he spent the short trip to that section of the forest trying to place her.

Things were a bit tricky when they arrived, as the forest was particularly dense in that area, leaving no space for the gunships to land, and Louise was still not the smoothest of fliers, but she managed to awkwardly force her way through the forest canopy, landing clumsily on the forest floor, rather than crashing outright. Joshua himself, with his larger Dragon form, would have had to burn a hole through the canopy in order to be able to land at all, something that he did not think would have made a good first impression. Nearly crashing into the forest floor probably didn't help, but he hoped it would at least make them appear less threatening.

"Hello!" Joshua called as he leapt down off of Louise's back, stowing his helmet, "We come in peace!"

For a long moment, there was no response from within the modest cottage, then one of the adult women Joshua had seen emerged, staff in hand, and a hard look in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Louise.

"Madam Longueville!" Louise burst out, clearly surprised, and startling the green-haired women in turn, "You've been missing for months!"

Longueville stared at the large, _pink_, Dragon, and made an intuitive leap of logic.

"Miss Valliere?" She asked cautiously, "Is that you?"

"Yes," Louise said, nodding sharply, "Headmaster Osmond will be _so_ relieved that we've found you, he's been drowning in paperwork without your help, and refuses to take on another secretary, claiming that none could fill your robes."

"I'm sure," Longueville said caustically, rolling her eyes, "Pervert man." Her voice turned sharp as her gaze turned to Joshua before she continued, "But what brings _you_ here, Knight? Have you come for my head?"

"Hardly," Joshua said, "We came in search of a healer rumored to live within this forest. Do you remember the maid, Siesta?"

Longueville thought for a moment, then nodded.

"One of the Albion Dragon Knights took off part of her head. We've been able to heal the physical injury, but her mind is mostly gone, and we've yet to find a healer able to help."

"You would come all the way to norther Albion to seek healing for a _commoner_?" Longueville asked, disbelief evident both in her voice and on her face.

"Last I recall, Longueville," Joshua said, his voice turning hard, "_You_ are no noble yourself. Besides, the other injured party we seek a healer for, is royalty."

Longueville was silent for a _long_ time after that, staring Joshua in the eyes, Joshua staring right back, his posture switching back and forth between unyielding, and aggressive.

"Why didn't you mention the royal first?" Longueville eventually said.

"The Duchess d'Orleans is here because she matters dearly to a friend," Joshua said evenly, "Siesta is here because she matters to _me._"

"And me," Louise added quietly.

Quietly for a Dragon, anyways.

"And to Princess Henrietta, for that matter," Joshua said, shrugging.

Longueville looked back and forth between the two for nearly half a minute, before visibly coming to a decision.

"I will ask Tiffania if she will help," Longueville said, "But understand, if you hurt my sister, I will _kill_ you."

Then she turned, and retreated into the cottage.

"Her sister?" Louise asked, confused, "I suppose that would explain why she's here, still, she could have told the Headmaster she was leaving."

"She's very protective," Joshua said, glancing at Louise, "And bitter. There's probably a connection; please try very hard not to provoke her."

After a few minutes, Longueville came back out, with a slightly shorter figure hiding behind her.

"This is Tiffania," Longueville said her voice gentle even as she glared at Joshua and Louise, "My sister. She has never encountered a wound she could not heal, though she tells me she has not dealt with mental damage before. She has agreed to help you."

The woman peeked over Longueville's shoulder, revealing blonde hair, blue eyes, and that the hood of her cloak was pulled down too far for much else to be revealed.

"Where is the injured girl?" Tiffania said in a tone every bit shy as the girl's behavior.

"Up above," Joshua said, "Can I have your permission to cut a hole in the tree canopy, so that we can bring the injured persons down here?"

Longueville looked over her shoulder at Tiffania, who nodded faintly.

"Thank you," Joshua said, then backed away from Louise and the others.

After a moment to focus himself, he initiated his own physical transformation, working for control rather than speed in the change, and keeping the display down to a brief wreath of steam shrouding his body and a slight tremble in the earth directly beneath him. Once he was large, furry, and equipped with a quartet of breath weapons, he gazed slowly around the cottage's small clearing, and selected a tree. He then manifested his sword, grasping it in his left hand, and severed the tree's trunk near the base with a single blow, blasting splinters and sawdust into the forest. Moving swiftly, he dismissed his sword, then leapt up and shoved the tree with the full force of his multi-ton body, causing it to fall back into the forest.

Joshua eyed the hole he had made in the canopy for a moment, before deciding it was adequate, then briefly summoning his helmet, and using its com to relay landing instructions to Lieutenant White. Task completed, he shifted back to his human form, then walked over to stand beside Louise again, and found Longueville and Tiffania _staring_ at him. He simply stared back, until the gunship ferrying Charlotte, her mother, and Siesta descended through the treeline, and landed in front of the cottage.

Then Tiffania and Longueville stared at the gunship instead.

"I know you were summoned by Louise," Longueville eventually said, turning to face Joshua, "Just where were you summoned from?"

"A different world altogether," Joshua said as he walked over to the gunship, and helped Tabitha herd Siesta and her mother out of it, "If you wish to return to the Academy with us, we can show you more of what comes from my world."

He turned to face Tiffania, as he guided Siesta, who had latched onto him again and was smiling goofily, across the small clearing to the healer.

"Would you please see what you can do for her?" He asked, some strain entering his voice.

Tiffania nodded, and laid a hand on the maid's head; a hand that Joshua noticed had a ring on it. It was rather easy to notice, seeing as how the ring was glowing. Siesta went limp after a moment, so Joshua carefully lowered her to the ground, Tiffania crouching to maintain her grip on the young woman's head. After watching the healer work for a moment, and trying to sense what she was doing magically, Joshua stepped back.

_Joshua_, Louise said silently, immediately grabbing his full attention, as he was well aware that she was very uncomfortable communicating mentally with him.

_Yes?_ He asked.

_What would you have done if Tiffania had refused to heal Siesta?_ Louise asked.

_I would have left,_ Joshua replied 'quietly.'

It was some time before Louise spoke again, and when she did, she was clearly very uncomfortable.

_I've been seeing your memories in dreams since your first fight with Mother,_ she said.

_I know,_ Joshua replied, _I've been seeing yours._

Silence again.

_How do you do it?_ Louise finally asked, _I know what had just happened to you now, when I summoned you, fresh from the battlefield, your sisters rapist freshly dead at your hands. I know you felt the familiar bond attempt to invade your mind from the moment I kissed you, and fought it ever since. I know how much the bond enraged you, I know how violated what my mother did to you made you feel, I have _felt_ your anger and outrage over what happened to Siesta, but you never once attacked any of the surviving Dragon Knights, or blamed Henrietta for not taking the wound Siesta did. You were kind to me almost from the moment I arrived, you forced yourself not to kill Sothos for his crimes, even after what happened to your sisters!_

Louise was silent for a long moment, watching as Tiffania began to sweat over Siesta's limp form.

_You spent months here, in my world, alone, your mind under assault, then your very body invaded, and when your people arrived in force, rather than prosecuting war upon us, you immediately sought to better the lives of every single person in Tristain, by sharing your nation's wealth of technology with us. _**Why?**

For a moment, Joshua said nothing, then turned to her, and placed his head beside her enormous ear.

"Because of _Grace_," He whispered with a furious intensity, "Because of _Love. _Because I follow a God of Love, of Justice, of Grace, of Mercy. You have seen some of it in my memories, but you still do not understand. There is a standard of morality, an _absolute_ standard, set by a perfect Divine example. Justice tempered by mercy and Grace, thus your mother pays for her crimes against me in prison, but is not killed out of vengeance, or subject to an equal punishment. Love and Compassion, because regardless of what you did to me unknowingly, if I did not help you, you would have died. Justice and Discipline, because while Sothos needed to be punished, he had not killed, and it would have only served to gratify my own sense of vengeance and anger to kill him outright."

Joshua took a deep breath before continuing.

"Love and Compassion, because it is pleasing to God to better the lives of every man, woman, and child, in every tribe, and tongue, and nation, regardless of world. My nation was founded by refugees from war, men and women fleeing from many different nations, and we found unity in our faith in God, in a belief that all are made in the Creator's Image, that we are all endowed with an incalculable worth, and that it is right, just, _fulfilling_, and pleasing to the Creator, for us to treat each other in an appropriate manner.

"Some of the nations my ancestors fled from were torn by war sparked by simple material greed, some sparked by men declaring that it was 'god's will' that they slay all those who defied their doctrine. My nation was formed on the belief that human life and dignity is a gift from God, and thus is sacred."

Joshua pulled back slightly, so that he could look Louise in the eyes, and spoke softly, for her ears only.

"When I first met you," He said gently, pain and compassion in his eyes and voice, "I saw a child with a broken heart, in need of Love. No matter what you did to me, or may yet _do _to me, through this magical bond that even now touches my mind, that will always be true. God made you precious, and though I needed to master my anger that first day before I could treat you appropriately, to treat you as anything less than priceless would be wrong."

Louise did not know what to say in response to Joshua's words, so she said nothing, feeling somehow as though her heart was both breaking, and being made whole, at the same time. After a full minute passed and Louise still said nothing, Joshua turned and stepped back, laying an arm around her large neck, just behind where it joined the back of her head, and hugging her reassuringly as best he could given their current disparity of sizes.

For some time, they silently watched the healer work together, Joshua feeling weak, and his heart aching from emotional exertion and painful memories, Louise trying to understand why his words, and the clear passion behind them, tugged at her heart so strongly and deeply. Eventually, the glow from Tiffania's ring faded, and she sat back with a sigh.

"I've done the best I can," Tiffania said softly, her voice gentle and slightly guilty, "It's better, but I don't know how much."

Then she stood, and moved over to Charlotte and her mother, the younger girl looking at Tiffania with desperate hope, the older woman looking at the blond in confusion. Smiling gently at the older woman, Tiffania slowly reached up with her hands, and laid them upon the woman's head, and the ring began to glow again.

"To answer your original question," Joshua said softly, "I would have left Tiffania be, because even if it would be wrong for her to deny Siesta and the Duchess aid, it would be a violation of her person for me to try and force her. If they were in danger of death, maybe it would be different, but barring that, I would become the villain if I did so."

Louise nodded faintly, then hesitated a moment before speaking as quietly as she could manage.

"Thank you, Joshua," She said, rubbing her head gently against him, "For what you have done for me, for my family, for my nation. Even for not killing my mother, for all that she has done wrong, I still love her."

"You're welcome," Joshua replied quietly, "It is no less than any man should do."

A moment of silence passed, cut short by Tiffania speaking again.

"It is done," She said tiredly, "That was a lot easier."

Louise and Joshua turned their attention towards her again, to find Longueville sweeping forward to keep her sister from falling in exhaustion, and the aged Duchess holding her daughter in as fierce a hug as her weakened arms could manage.

"Oh Charlotte, Charlotte, Charlotte," She said quietly, crying into her shorter daughter's hair, "I'm so sorry."

Charlotte simply clung to her mother desperately, and cried.

Joshua smiled sadly at the sight, and feeling his knees weak for some reason as he watched the family's tearful reunion, decided to sit down. Louise helped him down by lowering her head to support him, then sat down herself.

"Ah," Joshua said sadly, "Hope lives yet."

Then warm arms embraced him from his left side, and he turned to see Siesta smiling as she carefully wrapped herself around him.

"Joshua," She said happily, her smile bright enough to rival the sun, "So happy see you."

Joshua held her in returne, the sorrow leaving his smile, even as tears fell from his eyes.

"Hope lives indeed," He said quietly as Louise gently nuzzled the both of them, "Hope lives indeed."

((()))

The End, of Dragon Summoning.

((()))

AN: As my writing, and life, continue to develop and deepen, I find that more and more, things come back to the core principles of life. For those of you who read Brutal Harry, and the Author's Notes thereof, or picked up on the hint(s) in earlier chapters of this story, I'm a man of deep Faith. You could call me 'religious,' but the way the word is used commonly in western society doesn't really suit me, as though I am committed Christian, I don't even regularly attend a church, though not for lack of trying to find one.

As that applies to this story, and Joshua's words at the end of it, every worldview, be it Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Confucian, or Atheist, has an underlying reason for morality, or lack thereof. As a Christian, mine centers largely around the fact that Man was made in the image of God, with an immortal Spirit, with a heart and soul that live and _feel_, and that God intended good for us, and us for good things. In essence, this means that anything that violates the value and worth of a human being, via an attack, such as assault, rape, or emotional abuse, or simple neglect, being left homeless, starving, or emotionally alone, is _wrong_.

When I write the sequel to Brutal Harry, I intend to explore this issue in more detail; I'm not entirely satisfied with this story having a cohesive unified focus and purpose, but that's one of the consequences of it being little more than a plot bunny gone mad. For those who wish to discuss or debate me over the assertions of my Christian worldview, I welcome the opportunity to share thoughts, but ask you wait a couple months, as I will be opening a forum for that purpose, once I adequately figure out how, and have the time to spare from my other projects.

As to the setting this crosses over with, it is a setting created by someone I know; me. I've been working in this setting for something like ten years now, and as this story reflects, it's pretty developed and detailed, only a small fraction of which actually showed up in this story. If things go to schedule, the first of _many_ short stories will be available via e-publishing within a few days of posting this chapter. As I have been without a day job for almost nine months, please _please_ consider purchasing the stories that I put up, as it may literally be the food in my mouth.

For those of you reading my other stories, yes, the Dragon from War In Tokyo originates from the same setting, though under very different conditions. For those of you who _do_ go ahead and look into what I E-publish, be forewarned that Joshua is from at least a hundred years down the timeline from when I will first be writing, so not everything will be immediately recognizeable. On the plus side, once I'm published, I don't have to worry about IPR conflict possibilities, and I won't have to awkwardly word things to keep from mentioning the _names_ of the nations, people groups, etc, that are native to my world.

If you're wondering about a sequel, a full-scale sequel is unlikely, and distant if it does occur, but some short bits dealing with things like the new branch of the Academy, the wind-stones-under-the-continent-issue, and the Elves may pop up. No promises, as I have at least two major other Fanfic projects I need to finish, and my own aforementioned work to focus on, but there you go.


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